Bollywood actress and former Beauty Queen Sayali Bhagat has taken to using parkour in her daily life. No, she's not preparing for a role- she's using it to stay fit. The actress has starred in over fifteen Bollywood films in the past seven years, and says that her current Parkour practice has already increased her energy levels and overall agility after only 3 months of training.
For you geography buffs, Ms. Bhagat is from Ahmedabad, which is in the largest city in the Indian State of Gujarat (located in northwestern India). She came to prominence by wining the title of Femina Miss India World in 2004, then switched to film. When asked what Parkour is to her, she responded;
“It’s the ability to free yourself from traditional thinking. Parkour is training your mind and body to overcome obstacles quickly in emergency situations. So let’s say, you find a rabid dog chasing you. A normal person may run, trip over something, or get caught in a wire, and further endanger themselves. A parkour practitioner will map ways in his/her mind in split second decisions, and jump over an obstacle, flow through small openings, and eventually lose the rabid dog, It is an extreme case but it can be as simple as jumping over a fence while taking a shortcut."
She also briefly describes her experience with the art thus far.
“I have been practicing parkour for the last three months and I feel my body has become more agile and my energy levels have gone up. Especially my abs and legs have become more toned and I feel my core-muscles strengthening.”
When asked how she discovered the art, she answered
“In Prince of Persia when I saw Jake Gyllenhaal’s character perform parkour — displays of gravity-and death-defying leaps and acrobatics, I was smitten and I knew that I wanted to master this.”
Sounds like a woman after many of our own hearts.
Sayali Balances out her training with good eating practices saying, "I believe in having wholesome home-cooked meals at regular intervals rather than living on juices or some health supplements,” which of course we know is important to longevity in parkour, even if we don't all practice it regularly. It's great to see Ms. Bhagat discovering the joys of our beloved art-form, and we hope to see many other women follow in her foot steps.
Written by Exo
