After his first Everest adventure, Dr Malur published a book Bypass to Bypasses documenting his journey of hope and inspiration. He also holds motivational sessions for senior citizens and school students while in India.

Johnson T A, BANGALORE

Col Arvind Vasant Joglekar, calling the shots

As a colonel in the army, A.V. Joglekar never shied away from challenges. So when his 16-year-old granddaughter dared him to be a model, he couldn’t appear weak-kneed.

“Soon after my retirement, we were watching TV and Anuradha casually mentioned how difficult it was to act. ‘No, it isn’t’, I said without a thought. She dared me to get there and I accepted the challenge,” the 66-year-old recounts.

But doing the dare wasn’t easy. After fretting over it for two months, Joglekar joined an acting course. At the end of a six-week acting course from the Media School in Deccan and a four-week course in dubbing and voiceover, Joglekar was ready to take on the glamour world — armed with a dashing portfolio from Bunty Prashant’s studio.

Joglekar’s first offer came in no time. Cosmos Bank and United Western Bank shot their ads with him. Since then, Joglekar has done some 60 ads including print, hoardings and television. Besides, he will soon be seen in character roles in the yet-to-be-released films Breaking News and Palak.

His first day as model was tough, though. “It was a scene where I had to give the thumbs up to the girl who played my daughter. Believe me, I just couldn’t do that,” he says. Several retakes later, the ad went on air on all Marathi channels and Joglekar won his bet. Anuradha didn’t mind losing.

... contd.