A dedicated person is giving all his efforts, love, concentration, compassion and service to the welfare of senior citizens of different countries of the world. I will say today. About Shafaytul Islam Turya. He is providing the service through an organization called BCS of Toronto. Qazi Shafaytul Islam (Turya) is a highly sensitive man with austere, elegant taste. Everyone knows him better as Turya. He has been working as a facilitator or instructor of exercises through Zoom for the past four years. Turya is a very popular personality who is running a very popular programme. Turya is a combination physician, certified nutritionist, gerontologist and social scientist. His research papers have been published in various journals on various aspects of Bangladeshi community.
The wind of change is blowing globally. Instead of getting sick and going to the hospital, doctors are giving more importance to keeping yourself healthy by exercising. Turya has been able to explain the matter very well to his online students. A very popular exercise training system has been developed with the help of BCS. BCS is an organization dedicated to Bengalis in Toronto. It is a non-profit organization. Through this he conducts this exercise program. BCS (Bangladeshi-Canadian Community Services (BCS) has been doing a lot of work for Bangladeshi senior citizens and youth in Toronto. BCS organizes a drop-in program every Thursday at Dentonia Park clubhouse for Bangladeshi senior citizens. Anyone above 55 years of age can participate. Can do in this program.
Many people like me believe that this exercise program is the best service of BCS in which people from all over the world are participating. Benefiting. Turya has always been a pioneer in doing good things for people. I think he is an asset to BCS. This is their most interesting program. Missing a day feels like missing a lot. Although the program is mainly designed and run for senior citizens, many younger people also participate in regular exercise here. Executive Director of BCS, Dr. Nasima Akhter is a relentless, energetic and positive person. He has always been a pioneer in doing good things for BCS. He is providing all kinds of support for the development of the exercise program from Turya’s side.
The journey of this exercise training class started 4 years ago today on 27th April 2020 with 6 participants. When people are confined to their houses due to the invasion of covid, they are diverted from work, BCS took the initiative of this exercise training class through Zoom. At first the task was not so easy. It took them 6 months to gather 30 participants. Participants are given tabs at the beginning. Many did not have access to the internet. BCS also cooperates in this regard. After one year, their number of daily participants exceeded 100. Although the number of exercises listed is high, not everyone can always participate. Participants returned even if some were temporarily absent for personal reasons. This program has been launched through Zoom from Turya’s home. He has been running this program as a co-volunteer alongside his full-time job. During the Corona period, this work was not closed even for a day except for valid reasons. The ceremony begins and ends with proper rules. In case of delay in starting the program for any reason, everyone is informed through message.
As far as I know no exercise program has ever been so popular anywhere and so devoted. Turya was able to convey to each participant how important the exercise was to them. What are the benefits? People of all ages should exercise to stay healthy. All the participants in this program have realized this fact. They are informed every day what benefits they will get from any exercise. What exercise will prevent them from getting dementia, how to get rid of frozen shoulder, prevent getting hernia. How to prevent joint fluid accumulation, pain in the back, etc.
Turya is also able to explain that when people are young, the body does not complain much except in certain areas, even if the body is not taken care of. But after fifty, when people are moving towards old age, the body needs care. At some point the body can no longer back itself up. During this time it is necessary to take care of the human body. Various problems occur in body organs, joints. That is why body movement is necessary. The body needs proper blood circulation. Oxygen is supplied throughout the body through exercise. Many people try to walk outside in summer but have to succumb to the cold of this country during winter. People become house arrest. This exercise program becomes quite beneficial for those people as well. Many people with diabetes and those who can’t walk outside in winter need to exercise to burn off energy. This exercise program is beneficial for them. In this country people over 100 years old are also exercising near Turya, in another program. There are age appropriate exercises for them and as far as I know they like the program very much.
I remember when my mother was in old age, my elder brother told me to massage her body from abroad, so that the blood circulation and oxygen supply to the mother’s body would be proper. The nurse used to come to the house and give a massage. This exercise was not in our mind then. There were no institutes that conducted exercises through Zoom. Mother’s life would have been much easier. The image that comes easily to us of exercise is spending some time hard, arduously. Exercise is usually assumed to mean exercising to lose weight. It takes a lot of time to understand the exercise that needs to be done to keep the body healthy. Now in this age of internet it is not easy to convince anyone to accept BCS exercise service. Tried to convince many acquaintances to join here. Many people get discouraged when they realize that exercise is not meant to lose weight. Many people think, “I do a lot of household work, so why do I need to exercise”. Here lies the matter of persuading people. Doing housework does not make proper blood circulation to different parts of the body. Fluid can accumulate in various joints, pain can occur, frozen shoulder can occur, back pain can occur, waist pain can occur. In BCS, stretching and movement of various parts of the body are done to circulate blood in various organs and to reduce stiffness. And finally cardio which keeps the heart healthy. To my knowledge, many people have benefited and are benefiting from the exercises here.
Some of the exercises recommended by the University of Toronto are also done here. Exercises are done according to the age of the participants. The exercises are done in such a way that people of different ages can do them easily. Participants can also sit if they have difficulty standing. First start with breathing exercises. Breathing exercises are done in a special way for ten minutes. It keeps heart healthy and memory is good. Then neck, shoulder, head, hand, waist, back, stomach, different joints of hands, finger joints, different joints of feet are done different types of exercises. This system is to keep the whole body active. While exercising, nice music plays in the background at a low volume. Sometimes Rabindra Sangeet sounds. Beautiful Tibetan music plays during breathing exercises based on one of their mantras. If there is music along with the exercise, the exercise becomes enjoyable for the participants, Turya is researching to make a beautiful combination of music and exercise.
Bengalis do not have a great reputation for starting work on time. Be it in that country or abroad. Be it marriage or any organization run by a Bengali. Sometimes the goodness is maintained in the beginning but after a few days it is no longer maintained. Turya’s exercise program is an exception from this point of view. In the last four years I have never seen a single day of delay in starting the program. Regardless of the inconvenience the program started on time and ended on time. The quality of the program has improved day by day. Even during Ramadan, the program continues via video for other religions.
The most interesting thing is that this program has been running from Turya’s home through Zoom for the last four years. This work was not stopped even for a day during Corona. There may have been problems at home due to various reasons but the participants did not realize it. Despite his various personal difficulties, the exercise program was never interrupted. A kind of bonding has developed among the participants with Turya. Every person respects and loves Turya. Love, respect, affection, all in all, the program is held up with credit by Turya and the participants. Both sides have merit. Who is conducting the program and who is participating. Participants may not even think about what they will do when the program ends. Participants sincerely want the program to continue.
Bengalis are participating from different parts of the world, there are also some foreigners who are participating from different countries. Many Bengalis are participating from Bangladesh. Bengalis and people of different languages are regularly participating. Both men and women are associated with this program. The number of women is more. This program runs three days a week. Toronto time at 10 a.m. on Saturdays, 7 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. Those participating from Bangladesh participated at 9 pm on Saturday, 6 am on Tuesday and 6 am on Thursday. Participants from other countries of the world participate by calculating the time.
Changing your exercise routine regularly to avoid boredom. Explaining the benefits of each exercise beautifully to the participants. Conducts events with great care, sincerity and confidence that holds everyone back. After the exercise is over, talk to the participants for a while, to find out their physical pros and cons. Zoom on half an hour before the start of the program to find out the advantages and disadvantages of the participants. Participants also give feedback about the program. It also provides opportunities for socialization of the participants. Sometimes a variety of videos are shown on health, social and emotional topics.
I have always felt that such a beautiful service which is available without any exchange of money, should be accepted by more people and stay healthy.
