Against All Odds | 68-year-old teacher-marathoner Anjali Hazari’s inspiring journey from shadows to summits

Over the telephone from Hong Kong, wherever she has been surviving for 40 years, Hazari talks fast. She says that she besides walks fast. “It has ever been important to maine to unrecorded a productive and intent driven life. Time is life. Often I deliberation radical don’t marque the transportation betwixt clip and life. I spot radical surviving their lives arsenic if it were a formal rehearsal to the last act. In fact, arsenic I americium getting older, I americium precise alert of the constricted clip I have,” she says.

In June 2024, a Lancet survey involving 197 countries and a clip framework of 2000-2022 revealed a precocious percent of carnal inactivity among Indian adults with a striking sex gap—52.6 per cent women arsenic opposed to 38.4 per cent men. Hazari says that, successful Pune astatine least, wherever she has a location too, she notices hopeful signs of change.

“There seems to beryllium an accrued consciousness successful older women of the request to exercise. I spot that each clip I sojourn Pune each mates of months. But the affluent manner successful India seems to preclude mobility. We intelligibly don’t similar to walk. I find it hugely unusual that Indians walk truthful overmuch wealth connected fancy cars, apparel and shoes, i.e. the exterior. They look to put small connected the prime of the assemblage itself that they screen with costly sarees and jewellery,” says Hazari.

She has besides noticed that workout for older women successful India involves walking successful parks oregon contention tracks oregon gyms. “But arsenic 1 gets older, determination is simply a request to besides incorporated weights to support bony density and musculus wide and yoga/Tai chi/Pilates to support associated mobility and flexibility. Fighting the rigidity that sets successful assemblage and mind, arsenic 1 ages, is simply a changeless challenge. It is thing that older Indian women look hesitant to face,” she says.

Locus of control

Growing up, Hazari had received small enactment oregon accidental to make her innate abilities. She enjoyed each things biology, playing array tennis and writing. “After completing Inter subject astatine Elphinstone College, I joined Grant Medical College Mumbai successful 1974. Those years were easy the worst play of my life. I failed physiology practicals. During this time, my parent died by suicide. The vexation I experienced was criticised and utilized arsenic a justification to denigrate my intelligence quality and my aesculapian schoolhouse fees were not paid,” she says. A alteration successful the acquisition strategy made it adjacent intolerable for her to summation admittance adjacent into BSc. “I didn’t person a spot connected my shoulder, I had a immense artifact disconnected my shoulder,” she says.

Her locus of power for getting her beingness backmost was initially external, to beryllium that she deserved better. Interestingly, the tagline of 4 brands provided her a philosophical strength. These were – “What tin beryllium imagined tin beryllium achieved”, “The prime of beingness is your choice”, “Life is not a spectator sport” and “Just bash it “.

Hazari stopped feeling atrocious for herself and educated herself. She became a biology teacher successful planetary schools successful Hong Kong and has had a precise rewarding career. She has been a recipient of the Stanford University Teaching Excellence Award and a nominee of the highest grant the Hong Kong authorities confers, The Chief Executive Award for Teaching Excellence.

She has a file successful The South China Morning Post and writes extensively connected acquisition policies and practices. “Somewhere, on the line, my locus of power shifted inward. We beryllium it to ourselves to usage each accidental that comes our mode to bring our innate abilities to fruition. I gave myself opportunities to study, constitute and exercise. I don’t deliberation I person ever been arsenic blessed and contented arsenic I americium today,” she says.

Early start

Hazari played array tennis for her school, assemblage and authorities erstwhile she was successful college. “Early successful my childhood, I lived with my grandparents. They were farmers who lived successful Amravati. Drawing h2o from the well, making rangoli and chanting prayers were each done earlier I near for school,” she says.

She started moving aft she got married. “My hubby was past a skipper connected a merchant ship. Often, the shipping terminals were distant from municipality areas. I would tally into the metropolis centre and backmost due to the fact that taxi fares were steep,” she says. Moving to Hong Kong gave her the impetus to proceed moving regularly, inspired not lone by the parks and different nationalist spaces but besides the Chinese enactment ethic, subject and an progressive lifestyle.

Her puerility years were formative arsenic Hazari, aft she became a mother, was capable to enactment retired successful the greeting earlier she woke up her children. Running became her metaphor for beingness and living. “For me, the lone atrocious workout is the 1 that does not get done,” she says.

Mum’s the word

Like galore moving mothers, Hazari ever had a agelong database of things to beryllium done. So, arsenic a runner, she began to disregard the captious warm-ups and strengthening exercise. The effect was a batch of injuries including meniscal tears.

“I person needed 2 arthroscopies connected my close genu and 1 connected my left. The attraction successful the 1980s, 90s and aboriginal 2000 was to trim the meniscus alternatively of repairing it arsenic is the norm today. Hence, I present person osteoarthritis connected some knees, which brought my moving vocation to an extremity aft I gave myself a day contiguous of clocking 60 races by my 60th birthday,” she says.

This is however Hazari started trekking successful the hills of Hong Kong. She has climbed the Maclehose trail, which is simply a 100 km way successful Hong Kong, Kang Yatze II successful Ladakh, and the Kota Kinabalu successful Malaysia, among others. “I americium convinced that Gibran wrote this for me: “And hide not that the world delights to consciousness our bare feet and the winds agelong to play with your hair,” she says. Hazari has trekked each implicit Hong Kong and scaled respective peaks.

Exercising is simply a mode of beingness for her household including her lad and daughter. “It has not lone bestowed america with bully wellness and allowed america to beryllium much disciplined but besides improved our clip absorption skills,” she says.

Hazari is present penning a publication and plans connected scaling galore of the 7 summits. “My mountaineering travel has conscionable begun. I’m hugely excited astir wherever each it volition instrumentality me. I americium climbing Mt Aconcagua successful January 2025. I anticipation to ascent Mt Elbrus, the highest acme successful Europe, arsenic well. If my knees permit, I will, similar The Sound of Music, Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” she smiles.