Fathers often share special bonds with their children. For 80-year-old Chanka Ramrattan, that bond is a shared love for fitness and exercise with his 46-year-old son Nari.
The Rousillac resident recalled that he began exercising at the age of 14, lifting weights and taking long walks, a passion that remains with him today. During his time working as a clerk at Texaco, he said he would walk from Forest Reserve to his Rousillac home, a distance of approximately 12 kilometres.
“I have done every marathon in Trinidad; you name a marathon, I could tell you. Miami Marathon, Tobago Sea-to-Sea, which is the most difficult marathon that I’ve ever done. I even have a trophy where I got the fastest speed walking man, and I have all my medals,” he recounted.
Chanka’s last marathon was a virtual one in 2021. Since then, his doctor has advised him to slow down because of his age. Now, he spends his time at the Health and Fitness Gym in Debe and South Oropouche about three times a week, walking marathons of his own on the treadmill.
“I do cardio walking for one hour, and I do weight training for one hour. Then, I go in the sea and I swim and dive for one hour,” he noted.
Chanka firmly believes regular exercise has contributed to his longevity and said he plans to keep going.
“Exercise is very important, and I like exercise. You go to Miami, and you’ll see 90-year-olds and 100-year-olds in the gym, walking, and even going to marathons. That’s because if you don’t exercise, you feel lethargic, you feel down. And you also have to read a lot. So, you exercise the brain, and you exercise the body,” Chanka advised.
His son Nari believes that perseverance was one of the most important lessons his father passed on to his children, along with a love of fitness and exercise.
“When you are looking at your dad, and your mom, and you are seeing them exercising and you are seeing them fit, why would you not want to do the same thing? So, it was instilled in all of us, myself and my two siblings. That exercising became a routine. My bigger sister, she would run, and my smaller sister would do cardio,” Nari explained.
The engineer and businessman recalled starting to exercise and lift weights with his father and uncle from a young age, crediting the experience with shaping the discipline and fitness mindset he still follows today.
However, in 2016, he faced a big obstacle after he hit his head during a diving accident, damaging his C6 and C7 vertebrae and spinal cord.
“I was 37 at the time when I got into the accident. I lost all feeling in my body. The person that you see in front of you now is not the person I was three years ago. I actually couldn’t move at all; I could only move my toe. It took a lot of hard work and will, to come out of that situation. Eventually, I started to transfer from my wheelchair to a bed, to a car. I even built a machine for me to stand up with a harness, and it pulls me up in the air so I can stand up straight. So, I used that for two years to get my body back to where it is,” Nari explained.
Nari, who is currently a quadriplegic, said he was only able to make progress through persistence and support from his loved ones. Chanka admitted that period was one of the most difficult experiences of his life as a parent.
“I wouldn’t like to explain that, that is a different thing altogether. He was in Mount Hope for six months, we had to go every day. It was a real trying thing, but you know, he is on the way to recovery. His mother wants to see everything good for him. For me, she will treat me second class and she will treat them first class, and she is right. Because the ones that are able to walk, you give them less attention because they are tending to themselves. You have to give more attention to the one that needs attention,” he acknowledged.
But their bond through exercising didn’t change. During COVID-19, Nari said his father returned to weightlifting under his son’s guidance.
“When my dad was trapped in the house and he couldn’t go anywhere, he was very miserable. So, we had a schedule where he and I would use the weights that I have at home, and I would tell him what to do. He actually got a six-pack during COVID. So, we stayed home and exercised with my wife and all too. After, I realised now I could start back to go to gym,” Nari reflected.
Chanka said his son’s determination continues to inspire him.
“When you see somebody who is a bit incapacitated and they’re exercising, they give you inspiration. Like if that man could do that, I could do that too. I wish Nari all the best. He is adhering to all his exercises, and he has a will that you won’t get in your next life. It’s probably my genes passed on to him,” Chanka shared.
Nari said none of that would have been possible without his father’s influence.
“Dad, I just want to tell you, thank you very much for being in our lives. You give us the encouragement to go day to day, and just keep being who you are, because you have a strong will, strong mind, and that is what keeps us going every day,” he said.
