Manohar Aich was an Indian bodybuilder of post independence era and he was popular for his body building with self disciplined life style. Manohar Aich is about 4 feet 11 inches tall. He was given the name "Pocket Hercules". His chest measured 54 inches (140 cm) with a waist of 23 inches (58 cm). He was also nicknamed "Bahubali".
Early Life of Manohar Aich
Manohar Aich was born in the Tipperah District (now the Comilla District in Bangladesh) on March 17, 1912. He was the second Indian after Monotosh Roy in 1951 to win any Mr. Universe title and the first Indian to win the title post-independence.
Career of Manohar Aich
Manohar Aich at the age of 12 suffered a sudden attack of black fever when his health broke down. He regained his strength, however, by physical fitness exercises. He started bodybuilding exercises such as doing push-ups, squats, pull-ups, leg raises and traditional sit-ups. He only did bodyweight exercises with up to 100 reps per set at that age. He attended the Jubilee School in Dhaka. While at school, he used to go to the Ruplal Byayam Samiti for physical exercises. He began to perform in shows titled Physique and Magic along with P. C. Sorcar in Dhanbad. He used to perform feats like bending steel with his teeth, bending spears with his neck and resting his belly on swords.
Later Career of Manohar Aich
Manohar Aich joined the Royal Air Force or in Indian Army in 1942 where he began his pursuit in bodybuilding. He was introduced to weight training by Reub Martin, a British officer in the RAF. By that time, however, he had built his structure with prolonged hard work and dedication. Due to his physique, he was highly praised by British RAF officials. While part of the RAF, Manohar Aich was imprisoned for slapping a British officer in protest at the officer`s remarks in favour of colonial oppression. Manohar Aich began his weight training seriously while in jail. Manohar Aich would spend hours in physical exercises. Observing his knack in physical culture, the jail authorities arranged a special diet for him.
Awards Received by Manohar Aich
In 1950, at the age of 36, Manohar Aich won the Mr. Hercules contest. In 1951, Manohar Aich stood second in the Mr. Universe contest. In 1952 he placed first in the Pro-Short division of the NABBA Mr. Universe. Manohar Aich also won the World Championship of Spring Pulling by tearing a spring of 275 pounds tension. In 1955 he stood third in the Mr. Universe contest. In 1960 he stood fourth in the Mr. Universe contest at the age of 46 years. He did many bodybuilding shows from 1960. His last show was performed at 2003 at the age of 89.
Political Career of Manohar Aich
In 1991, Manohar Aich had also contested elections for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and finished third, collecting over 163,000 votes. Also, in 2015, Manohar Aich was given the Banga Bibhushan Award by the West Bengal Government
Death of Manohar Aich
On 5th June 2016, Manohar Aich died in Kolkata, aged 104 years.
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