Pocket Hercules Manohar Aich dies at 104

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her condolences over the passing away of Aich. She tweeted: “Saddened at the passing of world famous body-builder Manohar Aich. He made us proud. Rest in Peace.”

Aich, the second Indian to win Mr Universe title, is survived by his two sons and two daughters. His wife Juthika Aich had passed away in 2002. He was suffering from various ailments for the past few months. Lakshmi Ratan Shukla, minister of state for sports, on Sunday went to his house and had stated his condition to be critical. His condition deteriorated further at around 1 pm and doctors tried their level best till the last moment. According to his family members, he passed away at 2.30 pm.

Aich was the living example of Plato’s famous saying “A healthy mind in a healthy body.” He went to England in early 50s and participated in the Mr Universe competition. Success did not come in the first attempt. Instead of giving up hope, he had stayed back in England and worked as a bus conductor for a year to earn a livelihood besides continuing to train with zeal to return to the country only after winning the title. He participated in the competition again the following next year and won the title of Mr Universe in the short group in 1952.

Aich was born in Dhamti Village in Comilla which is now in Bangladesh on March 17, 1912. Later he had started living at Baguiati in Kolkata. He was drawn to bodybuilding right from his school days. He used to go to Ruplal Byam Samity in his early years.

The 4 feet 11 inch tall man with a 54-inch chest and  23- inch waist was lovingly called “Pocket Hercules”. Initially Aich underwent his bodybuilding training under the guidance of Bistu Charan Ghosh. 

World famous body builders including Reg Park, Robby Robinson and Arnold Schwarzenegger had to discontinue heavy duty training after they turned 50. Aich used to lift weights till the age of 95. His famous saying in an interview at the age of 92: “There is no escape. You have to exercise. When you are young, you train to build. When you get old, you train to maintain”. He had set up a fitness centre at Baguiati to train aspiring body builders. He always encouraged people of all ages to exercise to stay fit saying that “health is wealth”.

With his death, the era of the Bengali body builder trio - Manohar Aich, Monotosh Roy, who had also won Mr Universe title from the short group, and Kamal Bhandari, who stood fourth in the tall group of the same competition, comes to an end.

Besides body building he was also a great kirtan singer. He was the lead singer in the kirtan group of another body builder Bijoy Mallick from Bhowanipore. He also contested in a Lok Sabha poll as a BJP nominee.