The exercise of equilibrium

Trriing! Trriing! "Be in utmost passivity. Let quietude be your state. Let your mind dissolve into awareness. Let awareness progress into consciousness. Let consciousness take you beyond nothingness, hollowness, emptiness and wholeness. And may you be in blissful harmony.” This is not a discourse by a religious scholar but the voice mail of Mickey Mehta, one of India’s finest and highest paid holistic health therapists whose "blood is deep into spirituality, deep into faith, deep into prayers.”

Fitness and spiritual trainer and advisor to Femina Miss India (Femina Elite Model and Femina Look of the Year), Grasim Mr India and Mr International, Ford Super Model beauty and personality pageants, Mehta says, "Beauty is not just skin deep. The quality, characteristics, personality of a woman are far beyond beauty. This is what I inculcate in all the Miss India contestants. I tell them to be vibrant, have deep gravity, charisma and aura, be simple, humble human beings, ever supporting causes and becoming brand ambassadors against poverty, against abuse to ecology and other such issues.” A perfect body, according to him, is that which is "organically healthy, mentally in equilibrium, spiritually evolved and integrated.” And a perfect woman is the one who is "absolutely deeply compassionate and loving, caring, who genuinely knows how to woo a man (not superficially), very warm, very patient, ever accommodating, ever forgiving, ever so sweet...” Mehta promptly admits how difficult it is to find such a woman.

Perfect woman or not, Mehta has certainly helped some great international winners for India such as Miss Universe Lara Dutta, Miss Worlds Diana Hayden, Yukta Mookhey and Priyanka Chopra, Miss Asia Pacific Diya Mirza, Ford Super Model Bipasha Basu, Miss International Shweta Jaishankar, Miss Universe 1st Runner-Up Manpreet Brar (his first student) and Grasim Mr International Aryan Vaid, by providing his expertise in fitness and spirituality.

Mehta (inset and standing) training expatriate students at Holiday Inn, Oman

"The idea is to understand what works best with each participant,” explains Mehta. "Compassion, love, sincerity, integrity and devotion are the qualities I possess and look for in others as well. In the capacity of a guru, I should appeal to your heart. Only then would you respond. It’s as natural as that.”

Mehta is considered a crusader in reviving the ancient wealth of yogic and Vedic science in an entirely different way to bring forth the concept of spiritual health. His program, Health Beyond Fitness, which used to be aired on TV a few years ago, dealt with yoga, natural nutrition and cosmic nutrition, meditation and exposure to cosmic nature, the science of prayers and meditation, swimming (aqua dynamics and meditation in water), the finer nuances of martial arts with agility drills, calisthenics, isometrics, etc. All these eventually increase one’s immune and defence mechanism to make the individual an embodiment of vibrance, radiance and an unlimited resource of energy. He likes to bring "a positive metamorphosis. And this involves mind over matter — awareness over mind — and consciousness over awareness.”

The entire personality of the person stands to grow when he/she is in the right equilibrium, believes Mehta. "It all starts with your food intake, which reflects on your mind, which in turn reflects on the thought processes. Thought processes reflect on your attitude, attitude reflects on your behavioral science.” The right food is satvik (righteous, ethical and genetically designed to be consumed by human beings) in nature, for example, raw fruits, vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, condiments, herbs, roots, etc.

Laments Mehta who is a pure vegetarian, "When I see Parsis eating non-vegetarian food saying that it is not written anywhere in the scriptures not to eat animals, I say ‘Which prophet ever espoused killing?’” Four years ago Mehta himself was a non-vegetarian but today he stresses the need of cosmic nutrition for a healthy body. "Cosmic nutrition means taking in a lot of sunshine in the early hours of the morning, breathing in a lot of fresh air, conscious breathing, looking at the expanse of the sea and absorbing the energy of the waves, hydrating yourself regularly... Restful awareness and meditation also nourishes a person, compassionate gestures exchanged as in making love can nourish and heal a person, positive emotions of cheer and joy, looking at the sky, stars and the moon and connecting to them... All these are cosmic nutrients. They stimulate and open your sleeping health fountains within your subtle body.”

Mehta loves to take in all the cosmic nutrients. Appreciating nature’s beauty in plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables, Mehta says, "I bring some of my clients to Priyadarshini Park at Napean Sea Road and use a lot of nature when I make them do certain exercises outdoors.” Some of his elite clients are Kumar Mangalam Birla (chairman, Aditya Birla Group), Vindi Banga (chairman, Hindustan Lever Limited), Anil Ambani (managing director, Reliance Industries), and certain members of the Godrej, Jain and Goenka families and top officials of Sahara and The Times of India group. Each of his clients is different in specifics of gender, constitution, life­style, attitude, behavioral patterns, professional pressures, nutritional and cultural habits, community... Providing holistic health and spiritual therapies on a one-to-one basis, Mehta notes, "I give my life, blood and soul to my clients. I seek a lot of divine support in executing my job.” For those who cannot afford Mehta, he has employed a handful of assistants as personal therapists, including massage therapists.

Mehta (right) chatting with Miss World Diana Hayden

"Meditation integrates you and brings alive the supernatural sensing faculties within. It gives you compassion for life and an attitude of benevolence which in turn gives you integrity. It makes you philanthropic, ever sharing, ever loving. Then comes prayer, which is purely love-oriented. Usually people pray out of greed and fear. Most of them pray out of rituals and dogmatism and not from their heart with deep compassion. They are certainly not in a meditative frame of mind. In fact their minds are always wandering. They are not integrated psychologically, spiritually and physiologically. Meditation helps us integrate all these.”

Observing that hatha yoga (asanas) form the basis of most exercises and dance regimes throughout the world, including ballet, kathak, gymnastics and others, Mehta is sad that when the West has learnt so much from the East, Indians instead of opting for yoga, join aerobics, use heavy equipment to tone their bodies, undergo crash courses in dieting, etc. Laments Mehta: "That’s the western kida (worm), especially in Parsis.”

The fitness expert lambasts those who claim to improve physique through exercises and dieting: "Weight loss means conning people. It’s a bribe. Instead of building health from within, building the organic equilibrium, and bringing about organic unity and vibrance, today’s fitness centers are becoming very superficial, chasing the body that is impermanent in nature... There has to be a nutritional plan that gives you health and heals you from inside; exercises which don’t damage your body through violent activity, but soothe, transform and sculpt your body over a normal period of time.”

Mickey was born in a middle class family to Kaity and Keki Mehta on August 29, 1962. Kaity had a long innings with Indian Organic Chemicals Limited for over three decades and Keki, even longer with the Bank of Baroda for over four decades. Both are now retired. He has an elder sister, Jennifer Mistry, who, too, is spiritually inclined. Very mischievous as a child (more so now than ever before), Mickey was full of mimicry and jokes. His humble residence at Abbasi Building, Play House, Grant Road being surrounded by theaters, he could not resist the temptation of watching Hindi movies, sometimes the same movie more than 20 times. Not academically inclined, he was shunted from school to school starting with New Model Infant School belonging to his fui (paternal aunt), the late Jaloo Veerji, St Xavier’s Boys Academy, Bhosale Military School and finally, Boys’ Town Public School at Nasik. Remarks Mehta: "I still do not value pure academics. Academics needs to go hand-in-hand with cultivating a student’s spiritual intelligence. Academics without spiritual intelligence makes you intellectual fools, egoistic braggarts and destructive, lopsided, split neurotic personalities!” All he enjoyed were physical training classes, playing chess, cycling and swimming. In fact he stood first at a district level swimming competition in Nasik.

After matriculation, family members realized the futility of sending him to any college for further studies. Odd vocations such as being a motor mechanic, being a waiter at Hotel Oberoi... came his way, but nothing worked well for him. The Bhosale Military School and Boys’ Town Public School had given Mehta a perfect orientation in physical culture and a deep insight into spirituality. He remembers Bejon Desai, then principal of Boys’ Town, who used to make students recite prayers of all religions every day. Thus religion became "less significant” and spirituality gained importance at an early stage in Mehta’s life. Constantly watching his cousin practice karate Mehta got attracted to the field. He became a black belt in martial arts from Go Ju Ryu. From 1983 to 1984 he trained the staff and children of Godrej employees at Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli, in this discipline when Aloo Movdawalla was in charge of welfare activities at Godrej. He also traveled to Dahanu to teach this art in St Mary’s School and held early morning private classes for the affluent Irani ladies of Dahanu in the Dahanu Agiary Hall. Then came a big gap in Mehta’s career. He calls it a "quest.” He joined courses on nutrition and dietetics at the Bombay College of Health and Nutrition (a part of K. C. College) and on nature cure and drugless therapies at the Indian Institute of Nature Cure and Drugless Therapies. He also gained a lot of knowledge from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ("the most respected, spiritual master in the world,”) Deepak Chopra ("one of the finest health and spiritual therapists”), Osho Rajneesh ("the person who influenced me the most”) and Dr Vijaya Venkat ("India’s finest holistic health nutritionists and activists”).

Mickey Mehta with wife Samanaz and daughter Karishma

As his interest in spirituality increased, his zeal as a trainer in karate decreased. He joined Hotel Cidade-Goa as undercover security officer at Rs 1,200 a month. After three months he joined Bombay’s Hotel Ramada Inn as health club manager on a monthly salary of Rs 1,250. Then came the golden opportunity. A long-time school friend of Boys’ Town, an Arab, suggested he join his father’s Hotel Holiday Inn, soon opening in Oman, as a health club manager. The job gave Mehta good exposure — mingling with foreign guests, handling the likes of chairmen and chief executive officers of foreign airlines, foreign banks, consul-generals of various countries, heads of Swedish and American schools — plus training in hospitality, service and recovery management: "This job has indirectly helped me in being the person I am today.” In fact it was at the Holiday Inn that Mehta realized his ability to teach swimming in less than two days, which he later put into practice in India.

Mehta returned to India after a year and joined as manager of Oberoi Hotel’s health club in Bombay, grateful to "Sanjeev Malhotra, vice-president, Oberoi Hotel who played an instrumental role in grooming and further enhancing my skills and talent.”

After five years he ventured out and started Mickey Mehta’s Marathon Works in 1993. Reminisces Mehta: "From 1995 to 1998, my endeavors in manufacturing fitness equipment, fitness fashion garments, developing health foods and setting up health farms put me in a debt trap as I was not equipped and, unfortunately, did not have the right advisors. There was a lot of mismanagement and immaturity on my part as well, for which I’m paying the debts till date and am probably at the fag end of my liabilities generated then. It’s nothing but the divine grace that has turned the tables around. The general perception was that I was a cheat, a thug, as I was unable to keep up with my commitments to people. This generated a lot of bad mouthing. And, yes, I’ve been to jail twice, in 1998 and in 1999, for not attending court for seven days and for not having repaid the cheque amount of an investor in time. But this was later resolved and I was eventually acquitted. My family and closest friends really stood by me and saw me through till the turnaround which are the good days today.” Having taken all this in his stride, Mehta considers it a process of learning and becoming wise in the school of life.

A columnist on holistic health and spirituality in The Times of India, Mid-Day, Afternoon Despatch and Courier and other publications, Mehta had also anchored health programs on television in India. His music album on social awareness, health and fitness, safe sex and global love with Alisha Chinoy, Anaida and Bali Brahmabhat was released by B. M. G. Music Company. His ability to teach swimming in 24 hours earned him a mention in the Limca Book of Records.

The therapist is advisor to Health Education Library for People (HELP) as well as to an international health institution, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). He is an official supporter of the international movement, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and is an activist for Crusade Against Tobacco (CAT). He is also official brand ambassador and spokesman for Evian International Mineral Water for the South East Asia region, and global ambassador and official spokesperson for Himalayan mineral water.

Married to Samanaz, executive assistant to Satish Pradhan, executive vice president, Tata Sons Limited, the couple’s seven-year-old daughter Karishma, studying at Canossa Convent is the apple of their eyes. A good husband and father, Mehta’s evenings are for the family. Weekend trips to Udvada, Lonavla, and other nearby hill stations are great refreshers. Although Mehta found a life partner from his own community, his views on intercaste marriages denote his philosophy on life: "First of all there should be no caste, creed... Human beings should grow and evolve and be one community... And, the final evolution is when a human being identifies himself with cosmic energy of the entire universe and becomes one with nature without any definition, segregations, power politics, dogmatism and bigotry. Human beings need to be liberated from practices such as Vastushastra, Feng Shui... and lead as natural and simple lives as possible.”

On the dakhmenashini controversy, Mehta comments, "If solutions other than the dakhma can be sought in the larger interest of the community, I see no harm. After the soul has departed, the body is meaningless. It has to be disposed of within the parameters of ecology.”

The spiritual guru respects all prophets. He does not practice any religion in particular and believes that "all prophets and religions are born out of the same universal womb, the womb of Mother Nature. I’m beyond Zoroastrianism or any other religion. There is so much misinterpretation and power politics in the name of religion. There’s no sincere spirituality even among the biggest scholars and priests of the world! I’m more inwardly religious than outwardly religious and that’s the way every human being should be.”