Bodybuilders should be honest to themselves

COME AND see the country's most bold and beautiful bodies, said the invite. And truly, it was a glorious sight. After watching the country's strong men strut their magnificent muscles for nearly two days, we now have an idea how the mythical Hercules and Sandow would have looked like.

Rippling muscles, hollow midriff, well proportioned heavenly bodies ... it certainly was a delight as stars showed their stuff at bodybuilding's 40th Senior Nationals in Kochi. A thing to envy too.

It now seems that much of the stuff could be just artificial. And we are not talking about just lipstick, powder and paint here. For behind many of the glorious shapes of bodybuilders, could be regular courses of drugs, many of them banned substances.

The body beautiful has been man's eternal obsession, but in their quest for quick fame and riches, many of the country's top stars have crossed the natural terrain and stepped into the dangerous world of doping.

``Sadly, we are aware that a good majority of our bodybuilders are into banned drugs,'' said Mr. Madhav Pujari, the president of the Indian Bodybuilding Federation (IBBF).

``Their number could be more than fifty per cent,'' said the IBBF secretary Suresh Kadam, but discreet enquiries at the Kochi Nationals showed that it could be as high as ninety per cent. Even the country's top stars, including the current `Champion of champions' Prasad Kumar and former Mr. India, M.S.Mohan admitted that many in their sport were on drugs. ``They don't care for their lives these days. This is a very dangerous trend,'' cautioned former `Mr. Universe' Manohar Aich. ``It's become too artificial now. They just want to make it big fast,'' said the octogenarian with a tinge of sadness.

Drug-taking in our country took a big leap in the last five or six years. With a lot of international magazines coming into the country, it is now easier to learn about and go in for muscle- building drugs. This ease also makes the temptation of trying them out, and later hanging on to them, stronger.

After being a low-profile sport for a few decades, bodybuilding is now set for big time. It will make its debut in next year's Asian Games in Pusan. And with Indians winning a clutch of medals in Asian and Commonwealth meets the last few years, the stars could be under pressure to produce the goods in the South Korean city too.

India has a good chance of landing medals at the Asiad. And Mr. Pujari reeled out names of Prasad Kumar, V.M.Basheer, T.V.Pauly, Vitender Singh and Dinesh Singh as good prospects. ``We are strong in the bantam, feather, welter, light and light-heavy weight categories,'' he said.

But the IBBF has to tread very carefully now, for all the attention could make or break the sport. It could soar to new highs if medals are won but could end in disaster if any of our bodybuilders fail in the stringent dope tests expected in Pusan.

The Indian federation has taken a few steps to arrest the trend of dope-taking, like urine tests in the last two Nationals, but clearly these are not enough. Nine bodybuilders were banned for a year and fined Rs. 10,000 each after failing in the dope tests at the last Nationals at Bhavnagar. And 25 men were sent for tests in Kochi.

``We are trying our best, but the tests are very expensive. A sport like bodybuilding cannot afford it,'' said Mr. Pujari, also the vice- president of the Asian federation.

Bodybuilders will have to be honest to themselves, said Mr. Pujari. That will solve half the problem.

But at a time when the country emotionally reacts to major triumphs by handing out heavy cash awards, honesty may be one of the first things to be given the boot. Even during the Kochi Nationals, there was a strong rumour that a couple of big names, including a former `Mr. India', opted out because of the dope tests.

Drugs are normally taken in terms of doses and courses and it takes some time for the effect to wear off. That's the reason for these stars keeping away, was the feeling all round.

Clearly, it's time for bodybuilding to clean up its act!

STAN RAYAN

Kochi

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