Starting from cricket and other sports in early life, I never knew the importance of a good body and how your physical being helps improve other aspects of your personality. It was not a conscious decision for me to adopt the lifestyle that I eventually adopted.

Cricket was always my first love, like that of a typical Pakistani teenage boy, and I played it for a very long time. I was even a (very non-useful) player on BP Pakistan’s cricket team, where I got the chance to experience the true feeling of being on the ground and being part of the game. My best memory of that era is the catch I took while fielding at the point position, where the new ball comes at a reasonably good speed.

However, squash has become my long-lasting love. It developed later, when around 1997–98 I started participating with my colleagues at the Khaskheli field. It was difficult initially, but it was relatively easier for me to learn the game since I was 25 then. I was somehow able to win the junior squash tournament at the site, which encouraged me to go to the next level, and it kept improving my game. I played squash on a regular basis until 2004, when I got transferred to the head office, and then it became intermittent, as it became difficult to cope with the city lifestyle.

Later, when I moved to Kuwait, I found a heaven for squash players. It was a well-structured sports environment, and in every area/district there was a public sports complex where most of the squash coaches were from Pakistan’s KP region that is famous for giving the world superstars like Jehangir Khan and Jan Sher Khan. I was fortunate to find a league there, as well as a group of my countrymen with whom I played intense squash from 2008 to 2012.

Later, I moved to Abu Dhabi, UAE, where again it became difficult to continue with squash due to many challenges. That is when, after getting inspiration from my elder brother Zaheer, I decided to start going to the gym formally, which had earlier been a part-time activity for me. From 2013 until 2020, when COVID-19 struck the world, I continued cardio and gym workouts and kept myself in shape.

As a result of COVID-19, all places were closed, and everyone was isolated and limited to their homes. That is when my daughter introduced me to a YouTube creator named Chloe Ting, who is followed by millions. I was particularly impressed with a specific video of hers (which I will share later in my fitness blog) that, with a blend of stretching and push-ups, I have been following since 2020.

This is the very exercise that helped me when, in October 2025, my daughter (yes, it was her again) forwarded me an invitation to participate in the Karachi Marathon, which was to be held in early January 2026. In a flash, I decided to go for it and prepared a plan (with the help of AI) that, despite challenges along the way, I followed passionately and was able to complete a mock half-marathon (21.1 km) a couple of weeks ahead of the event. Later, it was psychologically easier for me to finish my first half-marathon on 4 January 2026.

I am grateful to all those who inspired me in whatever I was able to achieve, and I consider this a true blessing that I will do my best to carry forward in my life.

I will keep sharing my thoughts on sports and adopting a healthy lifestyle in my health and fitness blogs. I highly recommend that you register for my newsletter and enjoy short readings on my lifelong learnings.