Martin Shivapur demeanor and attitude belie his age. He is well known as a Trained Pilates instructor and is a personal trainer to many and like a thorough professional, never once mentions a single name of his patients/clients, neither gives away hints that one could identify with.
A thoroughbred Belagavi lad, he studied at St. Xavier’s and then completed his Masters in Physiotherapy from KLE and surprisingly, he is open to admit that he earns a fortune, but hastily adds that he has risen the hard way. Martin is your regular Belagavi boy, dreams in eyes, fire in the belly ( and a lean physique to go with it!) , with the usual insouciance writ large on his face that merits someone who has found his way the hard way and is now enjoying his moment under the sun.
After some unsuccessful turn of events at grabbing a plum job, Martin decided that he would strike it on his own. Today, his work day begins at 6 and ends at 11, training, treating and guiding people, the fitness way. He credits his stamina and energy levels required to sustain this demanding routine to Pilates.
And he recently made his first baby step towards full fledged politics as he was elected as Youth Congress General Secretary for Belagavi.
We caught up this young pilates trainer and tried to found out why he made this step into Politics –
Why Politics? I mean you have a great career on hand then why this sudden decision?
According to me, Politics is like searching a black cat in a dark room. Yes I have been enjoying a fantastic career. I have rejected several offers abroad and have stayed back. I made my decision to enter politics about 10 years ago when Feroz Saith decided to contest. My very first meeting with him was energetic. I still remember his words and his vision for the people of Belagavi. That moment was when I decided to enter politics. Without his support I would have not won this election.
Youth should participate in politics at least for a change, do you believe in this ?
Yes obviously youth are the change. Every year thousands of students touch the age of 18 but hardly 20 percent of them vote and specifically in Belagavi, even 1000 votes matter to make the change. The message to people who do not vote is that they have no right to complain when they did not vote.
Any specific reason to join the Congress, when at large it has failed to garner votes in the country ?
Personally to me, Feroz uncle was the very reason for me to join Congress. Under his leadership of about 10 years people have seen the change. Any individual aged 8 or 80 come with their problems to him. In short, he is very Approachable and regarding the Central Government it is up to the people to decide in the next election whether all promises were fulfilled.
What is your message for the youth ?
The youth are very clever and they clearly know the difference between right and wrong. The message to the youth is” vote for the person who has developmental attitude, who gives time to hear their problem, who sacrifices his own family time and goes for surprise inspections”.
How has the family reacted to this decision of going into politics?
Honestly I have had ZERO support from my family towards politics. They were like politics is a bad place to be in but I feel educated people should come into politics and then only will the society will change at a faster pace.
What are your future plans?
Straight from the heart, will contest for next corporation elections and then will aspire to be a Mayor of Belagavi.
What keeps you fit and any tips for a normal person?
Honestly it is not at all easy to handle Profession and politics. But we need to make time for everything. Pilate’s exercises have been a key to keeping me so fit and energetic to keep going. Normal person should remember that he has only 23 hours in a day. The remaining 1 hour should be dedicated to Gods most beautiful creation “The BODY”.
Recently there have been incidents reported about death during Gym training? Your views :
A gym should be hiring a professional Physiotherapist to do a complete assessment of the individual. This will help to find out if the individual has undergone a recent surgery, any neck/back pain which might increase with exercise. Example : Research says that in one individual both the knees are not same. Hence no two individuals have the same fitness. Accordingly the exercises should be tailor made based on the clients fitness.
His name itself shows he is a Congress