Woman of steel

Asia’s first woman to complete the Ultraman World Championship on chronicling her incredible journey

July 11, 2016 12:00 am | Updated 05:39 am IST

A racy narrative is what best describes Anu Vaidyanathan’s Anywhere But Home (HarperCollins). The memoir reveals how the triathlete completed the Ironman Triathlon and the Ultraman World Championship. Vaidyanathan, the founder of PatNMarks, an intellectual property consulting firm, and a Ph.D in electrical engineering from the University of Canterbury at Christchurch, holds the record for being the first Asian woman to complete the Ultraman Canada in 2009.

The advantage of being an athlete is evident when we meet for lunch. A terrible traffic jam and heavy rain doesn’t deter Vaidyanathan as she abandons her car and negotiates a maze of vehicles. “Having practised running in several cities in the world I am used to this chaos,” she says.

The pro athlete is busy juggling life at the firm, teaching management students at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and taking care of her family. Yet, she’s managed to carve out a professional space in sports and pen a chronicle of her journey. “While writing, I realised that sports, though a major component, was just one dimension of my personality. So I brought in my family and friends to give a better picture.”

A difficult task

On the difficulty of writing a memoir, she says, “Like all Ph.Ds, I thought I could write, until I started. It took time to understand the mechanics and the elements like voice, style, perspective and scenes.” The conversational style she has adopted is impressive. “It came naturally. I wanted to write the way I would talk to another person.”

Vaidyanathan has also infused humour in her maiden book. Once while running in Bangalore, she found dogs trailing her. On approaching Malleswaram Bridge, she was shocked to find that she was now being followed by a different pack of dogs. “Self-deprecation is a funny way of engaging with life. I do not want to go around trumpeting that I am a superwoman who can cook, run a firm, look after my baby, and also run a marathon. Like others, I too have my faults and weaknesses. I believe that if one laughs at oneself, he or she will never cease to be amused.”

Waiting for our food, I ask her why she chose triathlon. Physically active since childhood, Vaidyanathan took up cycling, running and swimming on her return from the U.S. “Initially, I did it because I was trying to reconcile having moved from the U.S. after losing my primary identity as a Ph.D student. It was only sports that I could hold on to since everything else had changed: the place, people, environs and rules. I had to keep that one thing steady to avoid being lost and disoriented. I decided to participate in Ironman without taking into account the odds.”

Soon, the triathlon became therapeutic: “Once in the groove, I kept challenging myself. The Ultraman was an attempt to push the envelope.”

A South Indian, Vaidyanathan took to Punjabi cuisine, especially tandoori chicken, because of her husband. “On my visits to my mother-in-law, I get ample chance to enjoy sarson ka saag and makki ki roti, and meat and vegetable dishes I admire my mother-in-law’s respect for seasonality and knowledge of what grows when.” Vaidyanathan also appreciates the nutritional value of South Indian food such as milagu rasam, avial, vethakuzambu and kozhukattai.

“These are nutritious and healthy. The rasam, simple to prepare, clears sinuses while steamed kozhukattai is simply delightful. The avial with an array of vegetables is great.”

Having moved to the U.S. at a young age, she learnt cooking by receiving instructions over the phone and recipes by mail from her mother. “I tried to follow them, but one only learns after a few accidents.” Having learnt so much, her cooking must be well-appreciated. “They had better, otherwise, they will not be served the next plate,” she says in jest.

Having spent a sizeable part of her life in the U.S., Vaidyanathan developed a taste for Spanish cuisine. “So nicely do they flavour their dishes that one does miss the taste of basic stuff: it may be meat or fish. Also their food has plenty of colour. Even though I avoid rice, I can’t resist paella: prepared over slow fire with sea food and vegetables.”

I ask if she is left with any time after juggling life between athletics, work and family. “It is not difficult to manage, provided you decide to take time out to do what you desire. It may be painting or singing or running: it needs be backed by passion. My spare time is devoted to gardening and reading.”

To keep distractions away, she does not keep a television at home. “I am not taking a high moral ground. For entertainment, I watch documentaries, especially those by Michael Moore and the ones on sports and races like Tour de France and films starring Christian Bale. I have watched his Dark Knight series several times.” What is so special about Bale? “It is all about his looks. One needs to watch good-looking men,” she says.

‘The purest pursuit’

For Vaidyanathan, sports, is and will remain an innate part of her life. “Requiring some discipline and dedication, it not complicated by money, time, power, elegance, status or looks. Sports is a great equaliser and purer than most other pursuits.” Now with her son growing up, Vaidyanathan is keen to get back in the groove.

“I was impatient in the beginning and hurt myself over and over again. Now, slowly I am getting back into a routine of sorts without any expectations. I still hope to participate in Ironman and Ultraman events. As to when, I have left that open. Right now, I am just working out and building myself,” she says, as we walk out into the traffic that is yet to clear.

Anywhere But Home: Adventures in Endurance, is priced at Rs. 350.

I do not want to go around trumpeting that I am a superwoman who can cook, run a firm, look after my baby,

and also run a marathon. Like others,

I too have my faults and weaknesses

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