Satna, Madhya Pradesh. 

This is a gym with a view — not of high-rises or buildings with flashy facades, but of lush greenery. There’s great music too — not the piped kind, but one that comes for free wherever Nature is allowed to thrive. As for the equipment, it’s not all steel and chrome with rounded edges, but hand-fashioned using locally available materials, including, wait for it, old saris. Best of all, it does not charge users any fee. You cannot confine the gym in Gobaron Khurd village in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh within four walls!

The youth of the village put together this unique desi gym in the outdoors in May this year; people from neighbouring villages have also started coming here to exercise. “Previously, most of the youth in the village had to either head to Satna, which is sixteen kilometres away or Uchehra village, which is ten kilometres away, to train. Because of the lockdown, their exercise routine suffered. So, we readied a gym for them in the village amid Nature, and inaugurated it on May 14,” explained Napendra Singh, the director of the desi gym. 

The dumbbells have been fashioned from unused bricks and stones lying around, and logs and planks securely fastened using old, discarded saris now help tone muscles. The input cost? Zero. “The youngsters have prepared cement wheels in varying weights for biceps training. A bicycle wheel frame is used for shoulder exercises. We have made arrangements for almost every kind of exercise,” the gym’s master trainer Karanveer told Gaon Connection. 

Before this home-grown gym became a reality, the youth used to spend money on travelling to Satna and Uchehra, besides the gym fee. “All this turned out to be quite expensive. However, this desi gym is free of cost. We have figured out ways to exercise every muscle, from the back to the triceps, using desi knowledge,” Karanveer elaborated. 

The gym also proves that what matters when it comes to exercise is intent and attitude, not just frills. “We began humbly, with just two to three people coming to exercise. Gradually, this got popular and spread by word of mouth. Now, between 50 and 60 people come here every day,” said Vikas, one of those who helped build the gym.