Gym...khana

THE MIDDLE aged man stepped on to the treadmill barefoot cautiously. He clung on to the sturdy handles while the ground beneath him started to move. Literally. First, he moved gingerly and then finding his ground started walking. And walking and walking confidently too.

That was the Tourism Minister, Peddi Reddy, loosening his limbs on a brand new 16 station hydraulic gym equipment after inaugurating the Country Club's renovated health spa, Tasha. Who said political heavyweights are not bothered about their bulging girth?

As if the Minister's presence was not enough, a bunch of models were also roped in for that glamourous touch to Tasha. It has become a routine for the Country Club to organise so-called fashion shows for every conceivable occasion, even for a pre-Holi publicity campaign. Yawn! Promoting a gym, they had to be invariably clad in shorts, tights and aerobic ensemble and dance `n' prance and hop around the place to some latest hip hop numbers.

Now something about the Tasha tomorrow. The Club has drawn an ambitious plan to set up 100 similar health spas all over the country at a cost of Rs. 50 crores. The agenda was to take these state-of-the-art gyms to the doorstep of club members. "A beginning has been made here," the club managing director, Y. Rajeev Reddy, said.

Tasha has 2,000 members spread all over the city. "To cut down their travel time to reach the club at Begumpet, we will be setting up 10 more Tasha centres near their homes," he said. These would come up shortly at Narayanguda, Shah Alibanda, Dilsukhnagar, Mehdipatnam, Jubilee Hills, Kukatpally, Madhapur, West Marredpally, Tarnaka, ECIL and Warasiguda.

"Tasha will serve as a major stress buster with state-of-the-art equipment, trained professionals and approved dietary supplements, making it an ideal health spa," he rounded off while lanky models aping those aerobic shows on the telly made desperate attempts to stretch every sinew.

By K.V.S. Madhav

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