“It is safe to say that our family is dominated by women! Haha. My parents moved to Hyderabad from Maharashtra in 1967 when the police action took place. Later, my father joined politics and my mother was pursuing medicine.

Being surrounded by women in the family always motivated him to do something for them. Well, I think that was one of the reasons why my father wished to start a hospital only for women. Bushra Hospital is a 52-year-old maternity Hospital with a gym introduced exclusively for ladies now.

Located in the interiors of Old City, we were a little skeptical to start a fitness center for women. But we wanted to change the patriarchal thought process in this part of the city and aimed to empower not only women but men with an orthodox thought process. Moghlapura is one such area in Old City where they are many barriers women face to step out and live life on their terms. It is heart-warming to see mothers breaking through these to motivate their daughters to come and work out at our gym every day. We had a mother-daughter duo visit our fitness center once. Well, in the beginning, the 51-year-old mother was not sure about working out but later she was convinced with the way our female trainers motivated her to work out with her daughter.

Sophia, my wife and I come from completely different backgrounds. She comes from a Sindhi background and I am a Muslim. Having our families agree and respect the love we share, has always helped us support each other through the thick and thin of life. Coming from such liberal families has left an impact on our mission and vision to empower women from such orthodox lanes of our city.”