Building a win

"I could not put in any special preparation for the contest as I was on night duty at Hotel Sea Princess at Juhu where I work as a front office supervisor. In fact I barely got enough time to sleep, bathe and shave. I was not in very good touch. I feel just great that I could win the title of Tardeo Shree 2008,” says 22-year-old Dennis Rasaldar. At the body building competition conducted by the Tardeo Vyayamshala under the presidentship of Bombay Parsi Punchayet trustee Dinshaw Mehta, Rasaldar won the title from among 90 contestants on March 30, 2008.

Rasaldar was initially the winner in the Group One Short Man class where there were 22 competitors. In the subsequent combined contest of the winners and runners up of all the four height groups, Rasaldar’s physique was adjudged the best and he won the overall title.

Tardeo Shree 2008 Dennis Rasaldar with Dinshaw Mehta

"I started body building when I was in Std X as a boarder at the J. N. Petit Technical High School in Poona. Later, I was exercising and progressing well. But, for this competition I had to be persuaded to enter!” he remarks. Rasaldar had also won the title of Bal Shri, which was an internal contest of the Vyayamshala. On May 10, Rasaldar stood third in the 75 kg category at the Seventh All India Zoroastrian Body Building Championship at Rustom Baug.

Son of Noshir Rasaldar who is an employee at Doongerwadi in Bombay, Dennis scored 65 percent at the SSC examination in 2004 and 60 percent at the HSC level two years later. "I have done a one year diploma course from the Air Hostess Academy (which provides training for hotel and airline jobs). I am also doing my BCom through correspondence,” he told Parsiana.