Bhayandar to Batam: Meet India’s first postman to win a bodybuilding bronze | Mumbai News

Chest: 49 inches. Biceps: 14.5 inches. The measurements somehow didn’t fit the brief. Tailor Pintya set down the tape and once again sized up the soon-to-be postman for whom he was stitching a khaki uniform. When he had last measured Ashutosh Saha, he was a scrawny neighbourhood teen given to sprinting in the bylanes of Bhayander. “I got the job of a postman as I am now a bodybuilding champion,” Saha told him back in 2023. Two years on, the uniform seems two sizes too small for the 28-year-old, who returned from Indonesia recently with a medal that sits above his TV.At the 16th WBPF World Bodybuilding & Physique Sports Championships 2025–held from Nov 14 to 16–in Batam, Saha won bronze in the 85 kg category, becoming India Post’s first bodybuilding medallist.“I felt like a superhero for a few moments,” he says. His parents teared up. Even as he held up the tricolour at the contest in which 34 national teams competed across categories, his parents teared up and friends cheered but he felt a familiar tug. “I know my potential. I could have done better. I’ve decided I will win gold in 2026.”While a global stereotype suggests postmen have strong calves from the physical demands of their job, Saha’s legs were built long before he began cycling through the streets of Worli as a 26-year-old in fresh khaki in 2023.Fresh from his SSC exams, he was 15 when he first entered a local gym. “My father, who was working as a manager at a chemical firm, suggested I join instead of wasting time during the vacation.” Today, he is the first from India Post to bring home a bodybuilding medal.A sprinter in school, his body adapted quickly to gym training in tenth grade. “My father used to work out. I think I am genetically gifted for bodybuilding.” Within two years, the lean teenager from Bhayandar had transformed. By 2016, he finished fifth at Jr Mumbai Shree, later winning gold at Jr Mumbai Shree and Jr Maharashtra Shree. Nationals were within reach, but financial hardship forced him to pull out. A typical competition prep month—nutrition, protein, and medical tests—costs Rs 45,000. “Multiply that by eight. Nearly Rs 3.5 lakh. I couldn’t afford it,” recalls Saha. Unable to see him heartbroken, his mother mortgaged her jewellery. In 2017, much to his father’s chagrin, she sold her mangalsutra, a gold chain, a ring, and a pair of earrings to fund his Rs 3 lakh trip to the national tournament in Punjab. What followed was a clean sweep the following year: Jr Mumbai Shree overall, Jr Maharashtra Shree overall, and Jr Mr India overall. Just as his prospects surged, an accident in 2019 shattered his left forearm. Doctors inserted 12 screws and a plate and told him he would never lift weights again. “I thought everything was over,” he says. After nearly a year of recovery, he returned to the gym.During this time, he applied to an India Post recruitment drive for sportspersons. When results were declared in 2023, he was the only bodybuilder selected, joining as a postman in Worli MDG under the Maharashtra Circle. The job came with punishing logistics: a three-hour commute from Bhayandar, long delivery rounds, meals eaten on the go, and gym sessions squeezed into late evenings. “My colleagues would taunt me for getting a two-hour concession as a sportsperson. They resented that I could leave early,” he says. But the salarkept him steady. “I am the sole breadwinner. My father retired long ago,” adds Saha, who has a sister.Still, he clawed his way back. In 2023, four years after his accident, he made a winning return at the Vashi Mahapaur Shree, taking the overall title. Over the next two years, he collected six state-level championships, five gold medals, a silver at Senior Mr India, and the overall trophy at DAK Shree—earning felicitations within the postal department.After 2024, he paused competing “to build the muscles I felt I lacked” and set his sights on Mr World. In May 2025, he cleared the IBBF trials in the 85 kg category. With the contest in November, he had five months to sculpt his best physique. His seniors—Deepak Sir, Prajakta Madam, and especially Astha Jain, Head of Mumbai West Division—supported him with on-duty leave and other assistance.Competing abroad brought new challenges—finding meals, navigating unfamiliar surroundings, managing nerves. But the federation, led by Chetan Pathare and the IBBF, handled accommodation, food, for the Indian contingent. “This was my first international flight,” says Saha, who now hopes to join the railways.