Hello People…

Namashkar. This time I am coming with something hattke than before. Today, I want to share my amazing experience of meeting Dr Bhagwati Oza – The Brand Ambassador of Vadodara Marathon. She has received a National Award for Older Persons in Sports and Adventure category in 2016 by the president of India (of that time) Mr Pranab Mukherjee. This award is considered to be equivalent as Padmashree Award.

The people living here may know her or have seen her in some ‘young’ people’s meet. Recently she was in the conversation of Gujarat Literature Festival. So, she is indeed a celebrity and a beautiful youngster one cannot miss to meet!

I was fortunate enough to meet her personally at her house and we talked about almost everything for around 1.5 hours! Oh yes! Let me share some glimpse with you. You will thoroughly enjoy if you are as positive as she is right now; at the age of 82!

Dr Sport – Dr Bhagawati M. Oza, who is a Gynaecologist, a Swimmer, an Athlete, a Cyclist, a Mountaineer, and a pilot!

• At the age of 40, she went Darjeeling and took the training of Mountaineering. After that, she went Uttarkashi for the higher level of the training.
• As I said, at the age of 50, she achieved a pilot licence after joined Gujarat Flying Club and registered nearly 150 hours of flying. Imagine!
• At the age of 65, (oh yes, you read it right) she started taking parts in the sports activity amongst Gujarat and also present herself at the national level.
• At the age of 82 years, today, she runs 5 kilometres every day and cycling of 15 kilometres.

She doesn’t have a two-wheeler or a car as she prefers to go anywhere, literally anywhere in India, on her cycle! She doesn’t like to disturb anyone, not even a family member, for the pickup or drop facility. Even during the night times, she prefers to go alone! She is a brave ‘girl’ with the super positive personality.

My Experiences and Observations During the Interview

When I entered her house, she welcomed me with a broad smile and open arms. She said that she was waiting outside of the house so that I can easily find her home. What a kind gesture! At the same time, I felt relaxed and positive about our meeting. I wish I had a cameraman who can cover her positive vibes!

We talked around 1.5 hours and the energy level she has… I just can’t explain in words. We have seen our elders at the age of 82, and not all, but many of them are dull or waiting for the death to come. And look at her, the lively soul! At that time, I genuinely feel that the age is just a number.

We discussed almost everything – not only her achievements of life but some of the other issues of the society. If you use Google, you can find everything about Dr Oza, but I just want to tell you about her super awesome personality and her open mentality.

Her Rolemodels

At the age of 12, so nearly 70 years ago, she decided not to marry! You can imagine how big decision it was at that time! And that too, being a girl! She believes that all the courage she has right now is the gift of her mother and grandfather. As she was a girl child, her grandmother didn’t accept her and her mother for the 5 long years. Even after coming back, her mother had to suffer a lot as she gave birth to a girl child! Her mother took the education till the 3^rd standard but she was the avid reader and always teaches values to her children in the story form. She also took the tuitions of Sanskrit. So, Dr Bhagwati believes that the simplicity, courage, and values are the gift of her mother.

Dr Oza was close to her grandfather. She took a promise from him that he will help her to become a doctor. Even when the whole family started forcing her to get married, her grandpa took her side and helped her to become a doctor. She was the only girl in the science stream and had to suffer a lot because of the orthodox and conservative society. But, she gave her best performance and got a government job. She was the ONLY lady doctor at that time. She is truly an inspiration.

Her Extraordinary Achievements

Coming back to the achievements; she was the only lady from Gujarat who has received the award on 1^st October celebrated as Older Person Day. Right now, she has nearly 100 medals at state and national levels.

At the age of 65, she also took part in Mission Sadbhavna during Kargil War along with Indian Army. She has also worked with Mother Terresa for rehabilitation work of Macchu Dam Calamity – in which she had lost her house too! Even today, she wakes up at 4 AM every day and does various exercises including running and cycling. She prefers to go to sleep at 8 PM!

Currently, she has already reached to a level where she can easily say ‘NO’ to the people for taking her interviews, but she never discourages anybody. She is extremely down to earth and always spare some time for them who wants to meet her. I enjoyed a lot with her and now I can proudly say that she is my friend, a motivator, and a guide. As you know that GupShup‘s primary purpose is to create a community of zindadil people and connecting the dots. She will always be my number one!