Reba Rakshit
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
Reba Rakshit ({{langx|bn|রেবা রক্ষিত}}; 1933–2010) was an Indian bodybuilder and exponent of yoga who was a pupil of Bishnu Charan Ghosh at the College of Physical Culture in Kolkata and specialized in withstanding heavy weights upon her body. She would let fully loaded cars or elephants pass over her body.{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070315/asp/calcutta/story_7512774.asp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140205184416/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070315/asp/calcutta/story_7512774.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 February 2014|title=Girls of the big top|last=Das|first=Soumitra|date=15 March 2007|work=The Telegraph|accessdate=4 August 2013|location=Kolkata}} She was the first Indian woman to lift an elephant upon her chest.{{cite news|url=http://kolkataonwheelsmagazine.com/kolkata-life-style/culture-tradition/body-building-a-thing-of-passe/|title=BODY BUILDING: A THING OF PASSE?|work=Kolkata On Wheels|accessdate=5 February 2014|url-status=usurped|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125065930/http://kolkataonwheelsmagazine.com/kolkata-life-style/culture-tradition/body-building-a-thing-of-passe/|archivedate=25 January 2014}}
Early life
Reba was born in Comilla in a Bengali Hindu family sometime in the early 1930s.{{cite news |script-title=bn:দেবী চৌধুরানি |trans-title=Devi Choudhurani |url=https://anandabazar-unicode.appspot.com/proxy?p=archive/1101025/25karcha.htm |work=Anandabazar Patrika |date=25 October 2010 |language=bn |access-date=5 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222204740/https://anandabazar-unicode.appspot.com/proxy?p=archive/1101025/25karcha.htm |archive-date=2014-02-22}} From girlhood she had interest in physical culture. After the Partition, she migrated to Kolkata along with her family.{{cite web|url=http://www.abasar.net/UniOld_Articles_Bishnucharan.htm|script-title=bn:পুরনো দিনের পত্রিকা ও বই থেকে নির্বাচিত প্রবন্ধ|work=Abasar|language=Bengali|accessdate=5 February 2014}} In Kolkata, she joined the akhada of Bishnu Charan Ghosh, where she trained alongside Monotosh Roy and Kamal Bhandari. In the early 1950s she was awarded the title Miss Bengal for bodybuilding.
Career
Reba began to perform in the circus{{cite news|url=http://www.anandabazar.com/archive/1121225/25desh5.html|script-title=bn:ওডাফা-চিডির বন্ধুরাই এখন সার্কাসের মুশকিল আসান|last=Basu|first=Riju|date=25 December 2012|work=Anandabazar Patrika|language=Bengali|accessdate=4 August 2013|location=Kolkata}} from the early fifties. One of her astonishing feats was lifting elephants upon her chest. She continued this act till the mid 1960s. She was associated with Kamala Circus, International Circus and Gemini Circus. She also used to perform at the local clubs in Kolkata during the Durga Puja.{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/No-more-a-traditional-celebration/articleshow/802785664.cms|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140205184415/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2001-10-24/kolkata/27225633_1_durga-puja-ghoshal-aich|url-status=live|archive-date=5 February 2014|title=No more a traditional celebration|last=Rudra|first=Arya|date=24 October 2001|work=The Times of India|access-date=4 August 2013}} She was also a good shooter. In her later life, she became a physical trainer and was associated with social works.