MEHREEN AMIN, 25
STARTED AS A TRAINEE, THIS SRINAGAR WOMAN IS A GYM TRAINER NOW
A resident of Srinagar’s Old City, Mehreen opened a gym training centre in 2016 when she was only 21. Despite the stone pelting, restrictions and lockdown, she can boast of training 1,500 women.
Becoming a gym trainer was accidental for her. It started when her own health deteriorated and she started gaining weight after she went to Delhi to live with her brother in 2012. On her brother’s advice, she joined a women’s gym and lost 20 kg in six months.
“This motivated me to take my instructor’s advice and become a trainer myself. After a year’s training, I got a certificate and returned home,” she said.
Back home, she started gaining weight again and on her father’s insistence decided to join a gym but she couldn’t find a proper facility for women in Srinagar. It was then that she decided to start her own gym.
Her father thought she was too young for the venture but she persisted. “Finally, he agreed and gave me money which he had saved since my childhood for my wedding,” she says.
“When I went to look for the space, people would say that I should bring along an elder to negotiate the rent. These things did not deter me and I succeeded.”
Within three months, the gym started getting regular members and doctors started recommending her centre.
She has received a citation from the government.
Covid may be a temporary setback but Mehreen knows we shall emerge stronger.
“Had I not started this venture, I would have been dependent on others. Today, my parents and my husband are proud of me,” she said