Daughter of a carpenter, Pooja Biswas aims to live her fitness dreams by training others

Even though life came in the way of her fitness and athletic dreams, Pooja Biswas now tries to live her aspirations through the women she trains and her daughter.

Ever since she was old enough to understand what sports and athletics are, Pooja Biswas only had one dream in her mind: to represent India at the Olympics and follow her ambitions in athletics. However, life had other ideas for her.

Born to a household of poverty and desperation in middle Andaman island, her father was a carpenter and her mother was a homemaker. As such, there was always an economic shortage in the family. Despite that, she had learnt to dream big and instead of focusing on books and education, she wanted to be an athlete.

Her father, too, didn’t want to come in the way of his daughter’s dreams and instead wished success for her so that she could replicated the feats of the legendary PT Usha who was Pooja’s idol.

Biswas was very active in athletics in her school in Rangat and regularly participated in 100m and 200m sprints along with long jump and high jump. However, the lack of a good coach and the absence of proper facilities and infrastructure forced her to switch to water sports instead.

"We were poor. I didn't have a coach or proper facility to train so that I can compete in national events," she told The New Indian Express.

Biswas then pursued rowing under the tutelage of then Sports Authority of India coach Esudasan. She even won several medals in rowing for her island. However, she suffered an accident in 2013 and had to give up rowing.

Following this heartbreak, Biswas also had to go through several turmoils in her personal life as her marriage in 2014 quickly turned into a nightmare which resulted in a lot of mental trauma and physical harassment.

With personal problems escalating and being cornered by depression and physical ailments, she found some respite after joining a gym in Gujarat. The 28-year-old quickly mastered aerobics, dance fitness, and Zumba, and became a fitness instructor and personal trainer who guided others in the gym.

Having completed her course in personal training and instructing in Gujarat, Biswas decided to return back to the islands of Andaman and Nicobar to try her luck there and imbibe the interest in athletics and fitness among the local population. However, once again she had to face several barriers as the potential in the government sector was not being realised, causing dismay and frustration all over again.

According to a report in Andaman Chronicle, luck would soon turn in favour of Pooja. "Not giving up this time, she approached the RGT School, which is being managed by Retd. Director of Sports, A&N Administration, Joy Kumar Roy. Roy had known Pooja as a young Rowing enthusiast during his time with the Administration and readily offered her a space to conduct Fitness Training. Gradually with a smile on her face and confidence within, Pooja Biswas started winning hearts as she spread smiles across."

As of this moment, Biswas works as a gym trainer for a salary of Rs 12,000 every month and has trained several women on the Andaman island. Biswas wishes to set up her own gym and train more women in order to encourage them to look after their physical and mental health.

The single mother also has a prized dream of her own. "My dream is to train my daughter and make her compete in the Olympics," Pooja Biswas affirms.