Up and Close with the Scout of 21st-Century Female Power
Mrs Nawaz Modi Singhania
“We’re always growing and changing and that’s how it should be. The minute you stagnate, it’s all over. The only constant in life is change” — Nawaz Modi Singhania
Talking to someone who’s mentored, influenced & reshaped millions of lives is a therapeutic joyride. Each word spoken, heard, remembered and revisited infuses you with piercing epiphanies.
Nawaz Modi Singhania is a seasoned star icon who introduced India its first Pilates studio — Body Art. She shares a lovesome marriage with the baron of Raymond Inc and also carries her unique brand of identity with absolute confidence. Her aura encompasses her ageless figure and timeless allure. Her art embraces the human body in varied moods, manners and motions.
We bond over a heartwarming chemistry as she reveals some life-changing insights and the stories she’s lived over the years.
You are so beautiful and mirror someone right out of Miss India pageant. What’s the secret beauty ritual to look like Nawaz Modi Singhania?
It’s actually not a secret. I just practice what I preach at Body Art wherein it’s not just about beauty, it’s about being fit, being toned and also looking good. When you’re energetic and healthy it changes what your close friends, colleagues and the rest of the world feel about you. It also changes how you see yourself. Fitness, anti-ageing, toned body raise self-esteem. We all want to get there.
Mrs Nawaz Modi Singhania — Body Art
Every brand has a story behind it which needs to come out. What’s the story of Body Art?
When I was 21 years old and on the cusp of deciding what to do next in life I was clear that I was going to study law as I helm from a family of lawyers. However, career-wise I didn’t wish to follow suit. I am but glad that I did graduate because legal education has aided me in every single area of life. Law studies help you to think, to detail, to get to the point. Around the same time, I went to the US to get certifications from IDEA (International Dance Exercise Association) and ACE (American Council On Exercise). I also taught in New York and Pennsylvania. Then I came back and started Body Art. Body Art stemmed from many reasons. I was driven to do something which was not done before. At that time (1992) there was nothing in fitness except for one Talwalkars. It was my urge to do something creative and bespoke on my own terms. I wanted to pioneer. I wanted to introduce fitness trends which were just not available. I wanted to create a market and get people into the frame. I also needed to do it for myself. When young I realised I was small, weak and was not as physically fit as I should be. I was passionate about becoming fit, remaining young, eat meals with lots of energy and live with no health issues. For me, health is also about quality sleep and great self-esteem. I didn’t wish to project exercise in a boring sort of way. We started with just an Aerobic Workshop. Slowly I expanded and diversified it into a gym, Pilates Studio which further branched into another Studio, another Center and it just moved forward from there.
Fitness icon Nawaz Modi Singhania speaking at a conclave
As someone who enjoys teaching others and sharing knowledge over panels & radio, you have often been at the receiving end of pure and unconditional admiration. What’s the most memorable comment you’ve ever received about your work?
A lot really. It’s heaped over from so many years. I can’t pin it down to the single most memorable comment or incident but it is very rewarding when you’re able to do something for somebody, and change their life for the better — in a way that nobody else has been able to, in a way which they couldn’t have otherwise received whether it’s through health, physical aesthetics or mental and emotional well-being. It’s rewarding beyond monetary gain, accolades, awards or anything else. It’s the biggest prize that you can ever have and we’ve received many of those. That’s what keeps us going, that’s what drives us to wake up every day, get out of bed and get excited about what we’re going to do next.
Mrs Nawaz Modi Singhania — Body Art (2)
An unprecedented and original fitness routine is a USP of a high-end health club. What are your considerations & priorities while designing a new training programme for Body Art studio?
It has to sustain. It has to be practical. I don’t hunt for fads that come and go at the drop of a hat. Our programmes focus on what Indianness would accept. For instance 14 feet silk ropes used in Aerial Arts, falling down like Trapeze Artists isn’t something I believe Indianness would accept. As Indians, as a culture we are…lazy! We don’t like to work out too much or move too much. In a gym, we’re working out but we oftentimes want the trainer to bring us our weights — isn’t that an oxymoron?! We don’t want to climb one floor to get to the gym even when you’re there to work out. We’re lazy. Foreigners seem far hardier who are used to picking up their groceries, cleaning their flats, and running around themselves being far more interactive in their own care and to their fullest abilities. From an Indian perspective, one has to develop a sense of what works and search for what is interesting, creative, effective, producing the quickest results and helps to do something that you otherwise couldn’t have done. We hence have several new-age routines and one such is Cardio Dance. Cardio Dance is of different sorts. Be it Bollywood, Scottish dance, American Pop, Country Line Dance, Western Bar Dance, Salsa, Zumba, Rock and Roll and so on. Generally, people feel they can’t dance. They say that I’ve got two left feet, I am uncomfortable. Now when you integrate dance with exercise, they learn it anyway. Two birds in one stone! Suddenly, the same person feels like a superstar — I now am able to do it, I now am adept, while I am getting fitter, slimmer, better. So all these things are in consideration when I plan a routine and decide what we would and wouldn’t integrate into our centers.
Fitness studios are meant to be much more than exercising and getting a thin body. What does Body Art stand for in terms of transformation or lifestyle upgradation?
Body Art Fitness centers offer a wide variety of experiences. We have Gyms, Aerobic Workshops, Pilates Studios, Gyrotonics, Aqua Aerobics, Spinning and so on. We uniquely blend dance and fitness in our routines. Today we have evolved beyond physical fitness. We have Stress Management Workshops, Zumba, Anti-Aging, Facial Fitness and an elaborate counseling about eating right. Just think about it — you work out six days a week, but you eat six times a day! So, the damage you can do by bad eating is much more than the good that you can do with exercise. When people come to us, they come to us in good faith so it is our responsibility that as we get them to eat right, we don’t do them any other damage. I can’t separate a person’s physical side from the mental, emotional and psychological side. It is important not to do any collateral damage. We don’t ask people to take the extreme call of soup and salad but take the foods that they are normally eating and only switch the objectionable ingredients of those foods to healthier ingredients. It’s not dieting but correct nutrition. Dieting is not a positive message. The word indicates I’m in deprivation, I am in jail. I am not good enough, I’ve to punish myself somehow. It’s not a positive word. That’s not what we do. So we eat it all, only switching the objectionable ingredients for the healthy options. A Parsi wants a Dhansak, a South Indian wants a Dosa, a Muslim wants a Biryani (actually everybody in the country wants a Biryani). Don’t go away from that.
Every piece of creativity needs a little piece of the creator’s heart to complete. How do you use art as a medium to manifest your inner thoughts & emotions, what does your art reveal about your life?
Since at Body Art I am concerned with the body, movement, motion, aesthetics etc, that’s what my mind will be about. Obviously what’s on the mind is going to come out on the canvas as well. Whether it comes out at Body Art in terms of physicality or whether it comes out in terms of what you see on the canvas. Everything that I’ve designed out there is conceived and created by me. Every word is mine, every trainee is hand-picked and trained by me, every last bit of choreography, every half a move, every piece of music, all the interiors — every single thing is me. There’s nothing that’s not me. It’s all going to be what’s up there in the psychology of the artist, right?
You’ve consistently wielded perfection in every little detail of your work of art. What goes into your process of creating an artwork?
It has to be something that is arresting to me. It has to be something that is very captivating to me, that really grabs me. It could be colours, it could be movement, it could be expressions, it could be flashbacks, it could be intricacy it could be anything, but it has to grab me and that’s what I am going to create. Unlike a typical artist, I don’t sit and crib about a creative block because I simply cannot have one. When I have a block of time, I realise I don’t have the luxury of having a block because I either do it or I miss it. I am committed to multiple roles whether it’s related to art, Body Art, Raymond, family or other organizational management. I am also writing and therefore I don’t have time. To me it’s always the situation of now or never, karo ya chhodo. Block-voc this luxury goes out straight.
Nawaz Modi Singhania — Body Art (3)
You are a role model for people who want to be their own boss. But as a team leader of a successful business as Raymond and a multi-tasking family person what helps you in forming right decisions both professionally & personally?
For me, nothing is done out of ego or pride. It all has to add up monetarily and must feel sensible in good times and in bad. If it does and the math comes together, great! But if it doesn’t, it’s not going to happen, it’s not about the ego first. A lot of decisions go wrong primarily because of ego. People end up in wrong business decisions because of ego. You see ego all over in the largest of business houses. There’s no space in that trajectory for me, for us.
You’ve excelled in various activities and have achieved the best of human life but what’s the one thing you’re most grateful about & why?
I am grateful for countless things, but God’s infinite blessings and grace is what particularly stands out for me. If you have just that one thing, you don’t need anything else because through it you have it all and if you don’t beget His blessings and grace then frankly you’ve absolutely nothing, right? So there are just too many blessings when you have God’s divine grace and I’m intensely grateful for the same on a constant basis.
How do we get God’s blessings, is there a mysterious prayer or ritual?
Karma! What you sow, so shall you reap. No one can plant a lemon seed today and expect ripe mangoes from the tree, it’s so simple. It’s not punishment, just a consequence. Our entire life is defined by this law. We’re all created equal, and begin from the same platform. But who does what, how and when determines their individual destinies. From a very young age, I’ve always felt a large physical hand over my head. At times, momentarily one might wonder, how could you have been saved, the worst things could’ve happened but nothing ever happened to me. Even when I had nobody around as a protector. I don’t believe in blind faith or stupidity. However, there’s Intelligent faith. Intelligence can be of different types — spiritual, emotional, cerebral as well. Alongside, we’ve also got to be wise, humble and grateful. Even if you don’t go to the temple in your life it’s okay. Just be a good person. Have good thoughts, good words, good deeds. You’re going to the temple because you’re not able to otherwise connect with the Lord but He’s connecting with you anyway. It’s pointless going to a place of worship and then being a horrible person regardless. It makes no sense, don’t do it.
How do you know God is there?
I think the biggest miracle that can occur is our own head is less than 8 inches. Within this much space of our head, we have eyes which perceive the world so clearly, ears that can hear and sense with so much accuracy, a nose that can breathe, smell and keep you alive, a mouth that breathes, eats and also speaks to communicate, a brain that thinks so amazingly, what is a bigger miracle? Are we so dumb to think that it’s all happened by a great big accident? What further evidence do you want that there is a God?
When in need, how do you talk to God?
I get messages very clearly.
Nawaz Modi Singhania — Body Art (4)
What is your advice to women who want to achieve everything they want without compromise?
I won’t say that life is going to be without compromise. In fact, a lot of our compromises is actually our karma, our backlog which we can’t wish away. We have to be real to that, okay? Despite that, if you still want to move forward and achieve what you want to achieve, there’s management, juggling and especially relationships involved. Nobody is independent or successful on their own. Individuals are successful because several people ploughed into and made them successful. Numerous people have taught us, helped us, supported us, did whatever, to care for us, while we’re able to sit here and have these conversations. Every thought that’s put in our head, every word that comes out of our mouth is not just us …it’s all the people that have invested in us. So we have to be real to that and we have to realise that we’re one part of a very large universal process. We’re all, therefore one… as different as we are. There’s a lot of integration going on out there.
Could you recollect one incident when positive thinking has helped you? You’ve actively advocated the power of positive thoughts in your speeches.
It has helped me every single time. I don’t mull over or sense an issue or a problem. I actually don’t see a dark cloud because the silver lining around my cloud is so thick that it overpowers the cloud. Every problem confronted is a huge opportunity to think differently, to come up with something that we otherwise would not. Only crisis reinvents you to that extent. And without that, you would not have crossed the bridge and reached the situation that lies on the other side of your comfort zone.
Nawaz Modi Singhania — Body Art (5)
How has reading changed your life? Please spill some details about a book club that you belong to.
When you’re reading you’re coming across the best material out there. The best thoughts of the best thinkers. Obviously, that changes you. Your thoughts become things. Reading is life-changing. The book club that I was in I am no longer a part of anymore. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time and space for it. I read by myself in my own time and read the books that genuinely interest me. I choose not to read what ten other people are reading as it may not be what exactly I would read with very little time at hand. In a book club, you’re kind of doing what the group wants, what everybody else wants. I don’t have the time for that.
What does motherhood mean to you and how has your childhood helped you evolve as a mother?
I come from a broken home. My parents split when I was 10. It’s made me a much better mother because I realised what I missed out on, what I did not want my children to miss out on, where the mistakes were made, where my parents went wrong and what mistakes I would therefore not repeat to put my children through. If become a mother doesn’t mean I become a maidservant. I am not the aya. I am not the person cleaning up after children’s crap and vomit. I don’t become the head servant. My value, my life is much more. I am a white horse, I am not a donkey. As a mother, I am there for several solid reasons. I am there to imbibe values, morals and support be it emotional or intellectual. In Indianness motherhood is often about losing yourself, no other job for you. You become fat, ugly, and you’re just there for cooking, cleaning and scrubbing the floors. I am clear that this not what motherhood is to me. I was not educated and brought up well to be reduced to that. So having separated my role as a homemaker from that of a housemaid, I have very good staff taking care of my children in the manner I exactly want them to. I am the mother I need to be to them through the various possibilities of life. But also I am there for myself. I have not given up and sacrificed myself to nothingness after all.
Nawaz Modi Singhania — Body Art (6)
How would you describe your journey from being Nawaz Modi to Nawaz Modi Singhania — what were the sudden surprises, learning or discoveries you experienced in your life after marriage?
First, it took me years to agree on the marriage. I came from my own dark space owing to my parents’ separation. I didn’t believe in marriages working and carried my own apprehensions and worries. When I did get married, I was clear about keeping the name Nawaz Modi. I had built a brand and was going to be true to myself. I wasn’t going to be somebody I was not just to please other people. My in-laws actually appreciated it. They were happy that I wasn’t this hypocrite who on one side lives as a Fitness Trainer teaching the world, running around in hotpants and crop tops while on the other hand puts on a saree to serve tea-coffee at 6 o’ clock in the morning and touches their feet. I, therefore, found a happy blend of being who I was and yet being respectful. I integrated into the Marwari setting while not losing myself. Gautam’s family respected that this girl who was to marry him was a Parsi coming to the Marwari household. She’s not being untrue to herself, she’s not putting on a mask, she’s who she is but she has integrated our ways. She’s not inappropriate. When I go to a wedding or am in a Puja I wear Indian clothes. It’s not my religion I’ve made it clear, but I am there to bridge the gap for my children and integrate into the culture.
There’s also a story. When I got married, I retained the name Nawaz Modi because with that I had built the whole brand Body Art. I was the then columnist for the Sunday Midday where I had a full-page spread, that’s more than any columnist ever had and that too on a weekly cycle. Half the kiosks on Marine Drive were all advertisements taken by Midday about ‘Nawaz Modi of Body Art’ now being a columnist for Sunday Midday. The top Raymond executives at that time told my father-in-law, who was in charge of Raymond, “yeh kya ho raha hai, yeh Marwadi bahu log sharmate hai kya humara naam lene ke liye, Singhania ka naam lene ke liye? Modi-Modi kya hai?” Of course, my father-in-law told Gautam about what people felt. She’s married into our family now, how can she not take our name? When Gautam approached me about it I was in fact happy, and told him that he should be pleased. I said which girl would not want to grab the Singhania name? I affirmed that every girl would be dying, planning, plotting for it and here you should be pleased and proud that somebody wants to retain her identity and is not jumping on to the bandwagon. I am not going to get rid of my family name. It is who I am. It is my birth. It is my place. It will always be. I’ve not given up my religion or my originality. I am still non-vegeterian. But we arrived at a happy solution. I added the surname Singhania as well and that’s how it actually became Nawaz Modi Singhania.
You went to India’s premier colleges as St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Government Law College & K.C. College, Churchgate, could you reveal one special memory or learning you’ve received from each of these institutions?
In Xavier’s, I was suddenly reeled out of a regimented methodology of learning. Back in school, I had a very tight schedule and suddenly in Xavier’s you could bunk all classes. Everyone was doing it. It was about sitting around the canteen for five long years of getting bored and doing nothing. It’s what I thought then. But my closest friendships, my strongest bonds got developed there at those points in time and the same people continue to be my closest friends and will be the pillars of support for a lifetime. It’s the biggest learning anyone can have and the biggest gift anyone can receive. It’s been researched and proven that a strong battery of friendships is much more important than even a strong battery of family / relatives. You’ll live much longer, you’ll live much better and have a much higher quality of life. My law education was from GLC and K.C. College. Studying the law has helped me to think straight, to rationalize, detail things out, and to think a step ahead. It has helped me in every area of my life.
Click over www.bodyart.in for more exercise and nutrition tips specially curated by Nawaz Modi Singhania
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