One of my all-time favorite gifs is a cartoon depiction of a short conversation between a dad and his son. The characters are vaguely Asian, or at the very least, people of color with the short scene unfolding when the dad character storms into his son’s room while he studies, and the conversation goes as follows. Dad – Are you a doctor yet? Son – I’m only 12! Dad – Well, call me when you become a doctor! With that, the dad character exits, slamming the door behind him. Kids born to Asian or African parents will identify with this scene. It seems to be one of the top dreams of parents from these regions that their progeny become doctors. The gif itself is personally funny to me because I personally know of people whose entire lives were geared towards their eventually becoming physicians of some kind. It might be easy to raise an eyebrow at this type of mentality but it does seem to work, with countries like China and India being among the top countries with Medical degree graduates per capita. Vegaas Singh is one such graduate, being a native of India and studying medicine in China.
Dr. Vegaas Singh (Right) at his graduation
With the gif in mind, I wonder how a conversation with his father would go. Mr. Singh senior would storm into Singh junior’s room, get the confirmation that he is a doctor, but. There is a massive but. Singh’s first passion is fitness, a passion which now shapes his future plans in more ways than one. Singh is well on his path to becoming a Beijing mainstay, working not only with Beijing families to achieve their fitness goals, but also with aspiring and former athletes to ensure their physical fitness isn’t compromised by their careers. His imposing stature is unlikely to betray his medical training. Nor his passion for fitness as he works with his clients, pushing them to what seems like the brink, but gently easing them back, all with a fitness goal carefully tailored in mind. Between smarts, brawn, and trailblazing initiatives, Singh certainly has it all and an inspiring bright future ahead.
As a child, what were your professional dreams and what did your parents wish for you?
As a child, I always had dreams swaying where the wind blew, but it was always something that would help people with their lives. My parents have always been supportive and flexible from the very beginning. I’ve been very lucky to have such accepting and supportive parents all throughout. They never enforced their wishes and dreams upon their children’s lives. They’ve just always stood by me and assured me that as long as I’m happy doing what I want to do, they’ll support me 100 percent.
What is your educational backgrounds i.e. where have you studied and lived? What was your specialty?
Since my father served 26 years in the Indian Naval Forces, me and my brother would always have to change schools with every change to a new city. I completed my high school and senior secondary school in New Delhi then came to China for my degree. I have a Bachelors in Medicine, Bachelors in Surgery from Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin.
At what point in your educational journey did you realize that being a doctor wasn’t enough?
Like I mentioned before, it was always about me being somebody who could help others with their lives, and also because I’ve always been a sportsman all my life, I could never let go of that. It is not that I do not want to be a doctor for the rest of my life. Quite the contrary. I would like to be able to incorporate my medical training into my passion for fitness. At present, I am working towards getting a Masters in sports medicine. I give rehabilitation medicine classes for those who have all sorts of sports injuries. In a way, you might call me a rehabilitation fitness trainer.
How and when did you get into the world of fitness and body building?
I started my fitness journey during my third year of medical school, and realized that it was something I would never want to let go of.
What has been your family’s reaction?
My family has continued to be completely supportive. They asked me to go pursue my passion and be happy with whatever I decide to do.
What are some ways in which you feel more fulfilled now as a trainer than when you were a doctor?
Well, now that I’m a trainer, I can use what I’ve learnt about the human body during my study as a medical student in the gym, since this helps me better understand my clients and their body reactions to the training plans and diet I prepare from them. Also part of my job is to help clients with rehabilitation, so technically that’s me working as a rehabilitation fitness trainer.
In what ways might parents help their children pursue their dreams no matter how off their beaten path it is?
First off, parents should never impose upon their children their own personal expectations and goals. Every child is born with a certain purpose in life and the kid needs to find it himself. Parents play a very big role; the better they support their kids, the faster their kids realize what they want from life. That’s as simple as it gets, but sadly most parents don’t understand that in this generation, all they expect is that their children get good grades, get into high-ranking colleges and graduate top of their class, regardless of whether or not those kids want that too or not.
Photos: Courtesy of Vegaas Singh
