Manohar Aich (17 March 1912 – 5 June 2016) was an Indian

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's muscles via hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. It is primarily undertaken for aesthetic ...

. He was the second Indian (after Monotosh Roy in 1951) to win any Mr. Universe title. He did so in the 1952 NABBA

Universe Championships The Universe Championships are annual worldwide bodybuilding events organised by the British National Amateur Body-Builders' Association (NABBA). Originally promoted as the contest, the event was expanded to include women's classes in 1968. Nota ...

. At tall, he was given the name "Pocket

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

". Aich has been cited by historians as an influence on Indian physical culture.

Early life

Manohar Aich was born in a kayastha family, since childhood Aich was interested in strength related sports, such as

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

and

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

. At the age of 12, due to a sudden attack of

black fever Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar (Hindi: kālā āzār, "black sickness") or "black fever", is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality. Leishmaniasi ...

, 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/calisthenics exercises with up to 100 reps per set at that age. He attended the K. L. Jubilee High School & College in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. 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 Dhanbad is the second-most populated city in the Indian state of Jharkhand after Jamshedpur and a major financial hub of Jharkhand. In terms of economy, Dhanbad has the largest economy in the state of Jharkhand and it is often referred to as th ...

. He used to perform feats like bending steel with his teeth, bending spears with his neck and resting his belly on swords.

Career

Aich joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

in 1942 where he began his pursuit in bodybuilding. He was introduced to weight training by Reub Martin, a British officer in the RAF. While part of the RAF, Aich was imprisoned for slapping a British officer in protest at the officer's remarks in favour of colonial oppression. Aich began his weight training seriously while in jail. He would spend hours in physical exercises. Observing his knack in physical culture, the jail authorities arranged a special diet for him. In 1950, at the age of 38, Aich won the Mr. Hercules contest. In 1951 he stood second in the Mr. Universe contest. In 1952 he placed first in the Pro-Short division of the NABBA Mr. Universe. At the time his measurements were: biceps 46 cm, chest 1.2 m, forearm 36 cm.

Physical stats

*Height :4'11" *Chest :(4 ft. 6 in. ) *Waist : *Hip : *Thigh : *Calves : *Biceps:(1 ft. 6 in.) *Forearms:(1 ft. 2 in.)

In Politics

In 1991, he had also contested elections for the BJP and finished third, collecting over 163,000 votes. Also, in 2015, he was given the

Banga Bibhushan Banga Bibhushan Samman () is a title instituted by the West Bengal government to honour the services of personalities in various fields. The Banga Ratna Samman and the Banga Bhushan Samman ("Bengal ornament" বঙ্গ ভূষণ) awards are a ...

Award by the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

Personal life

In March 2012, Aich became a

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

. He credited his good health with "a simple

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

of milk, fruits and vegetables along with rice,

lentils The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...

and fish" and not allowing any tension to creep into his life. He had two sons and two daughters. His sons run a gym and a fitness centre, in which Aich helped until the last few days of his life.

Death

On 5 June 2016, Manohar Aich died in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, aged 104 years."Manohar Aich aka Pocket Hercules dies at 104: ‘Was inspiration for all’"
''Indian Express'' (6 June 2016). "Manohar Aich: Top Indian bodybuilder dies, aged 104"
''BBC'' (6 June 2016)

References

External links

*
Monohar Aich
a
MuscleMemory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aich, Manohar 1912 births 2016 deaths Bengali Hindus Bodybuilders from West Bengal Indian male bodybuilders Indian men centenarians People associated with physical culture People from Comilla Sportspeople from Kolkata