'Success does not come easily'

Fitness mantra

Former national athlete Reeth Abraham is a fitness freak, so much so that she was jogging 10 days before her daughter was born. Even to this day, she says that it is so much a part of her life that she can skip a meal but not her training session. Metrolife caught up with the sportsperson in the City recently.

“Exercise has been a part of my life from a young age. I can skip a meal but not my training. I get irritable and restless if I do so,” she says.

Pointing out the reasons for her being successful, the ‘Arjuna Award’ winner says that she was lucky. “I was very passionate about what I did.

I played all sports. At one point, I had to choose a single sport to do well in and I chose heptathlon over basketball.”

However, she rues that these days youngsters have started taking their life and health for granted. “Particularly those in the age group of 18-25 years don’t exercise. It is only when something happens in the family that they wake up,” she laments.

Reeth says that although there used to be a whole lot of athletes from Karnataka, in the last six years, there have been none. Though the sport facilties have improved over the years, Reeth says that children are not showing much interest. “Now, even though there are many more facilities, kids are not coming forward. There is a lot of talent but interest is lacking. More and more are shying away since they think they are not recognised after 365 days of practice,” she points out, adding that funding is also
an issue.

The athlete is working on taking sports coaches to schools instead of making children go out. “However, it is difficult because the response from different schools is different. I hope things change in the next five to six years,” she says.

She advises youngsters, “Success does not come easily. If you know you’re good and you are dedicated, you must be disciplined in life which will help achieve success.”