(April 12, 2024) Back when she was in school, Anu Vaidyanathan disliked any form of physical activity or sport. So much so, that even the usual marching drills at her convent school seemed like a lot of hard work. On the other hand, Physics, literature and algebra did interest her. Her aim was to become a software programmer, given the tech boom in Bengaluru in the early 2000s. But destiny had different plans, rather, a lot of plans, for her. That in a nutshell is what Anu Vaidyanathan — athlete, engineer, comedian, filmmaker and writer — is all about. “I am a parent as well,” reminds Anu Vaidyanathan, as she settles down for a chat with Global Indian.
From becoming the first Asian triathlete to finish Ultraman Canada to touring the world for show BC:AD (Before children, after diapers) to having her memoir ‘Anywhere but home – Adventures in Endurance’ long listed for a movie adaptation at the Mumbai International Film Festival in 2016 to making a variety of films — Anu is a woman of many talents and flawlessly fulfils all her roles.
Anu Vaidyanathan
“I don’t juggle roles, I only do one thing at a time. In all my endeavours, I have a common thread of resilience and self -reliance. When money becomes the cornerstone of any discussion, I lose interest,” says Anu, who is realistic and down to earth when it comes to her priorities.
Extreme sports
The passion for extreme sports kicked in when she was at Purdue University, from where she earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Computer Engineering.
She was one among the five women in a graduating class of 150. “It was obvious that to survive the gender disparity and handle the pressure academically, we had to do something physical to survive. Some picked up kickboxing, I picked up running, and that’s where my interest in triathlons really began,” Anu recalls.
She discovered that to do anything well, from research and engineering to making a film or writing a book, staying physically fit has remained a cornerstone of her success. Her connection with physical activity became the basis for her creativity.
The Ultraman Canada challenge
It was in 2009, while working towards her PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Canterbury, Christchurch in New Zealand, that she became the first Asian woman to complete the Ultraman Canada event.
The three day race which included a 10 kilometre swim, 420 km cycling and 84.4 km run, tested her endurance like no other. “I followed that up in three weeks with Ironman Canada because I am a South Indian woman who believes in ‘buy one get one free,” smiles Anu, the first India-based athlete to train for and participate in Ironman Triathlon.
She says combining these two big endurance races within a time span of three weeks set her apart in her own mind. “It was a test of my physical and mental strength,” says Anu, who was also the first Indian woman to have qualified for the Half Ironman 70.3 Clearwater World Championship, 2008. Post this, Anu told herself that she had nothing to prove, either to herself or to the world.
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Back then, there wasn’t much information or knowledge about such events, neither were there too many coaches. Anu completed the Ultraman on a second-hand bike, without any sponsors or aerodynamic equipment. “My ultimate goal was the finish line and the question I asked myself — can I do this?” says Anu, who used to ride between Bangalore and Mysore, Chennai and Pondicherry as part of her training.
She did face challenges along the journey, which perhaps most women can relate to. “I met a lot of sexist coaches who couldn’t stand the fact a woman can actually do much more than men. If you peel back the layers or any historical event, you will find a woman somewhere in the middle of it,” says the extreme sports enthusiast.
Writing a memoir and filmmaking
Anu wanted to put all her adventures in triathlon down in a book. The outcome was her memoir ‘Anywhere but home – Adventures in Endurance’ which she wrote when pregnant with her first child.
She credits her editor at HarperCollins, Karthika, who not only understood the essence of what Anu wanted to write but also encouraged her at every step. “Having been a cricket player herself, Karthika didn’t impose any constraints and just told me to write the memoir I wanted,” says Anu, for whom the book was her introduction to arts.
With all the memories of her triathlon days fresh in her mind, she penned a compelling narrative, making the memoir gripping and interesting.
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Filmmaking journey
Once it was long listed for the movie adaptation, it made Anu investigate filmmaking a little bit more seriously. “Initially, I thought I wanted to be a cinematographer because I love building things, but then I realized that my strength is story. That’s when I chose writing and directing,” informs the film maker, who has also served as visiting faculty at IIT Ahmedabad and IIT Ropar.
She enrolled at the National Film and Television School in London, one of the best film schools in the world to learn the craft of filmmaking. “I started my film education when I was pregnant with my second child. I was walking around in classrooms with people half my age, talking in jargon which none could understand. To sum it up, it was a very funny mixture of life experiences that I saw at film school.”
However, the pandemic shut down the world before she could make her first fiction film, pandemic shut down the world. “I had made my first documentary six months postpartum and it was released in a theatre in London. Then came the pandemic,” says Anu.
Around that time, she wrote to well-known film maker Raju Hirani seeking a job. “He allowed me to assist him by giving him script notes on the movie Dunki. Thereafter, I made a dozen short films in a span of about 20 months which are now playing all over the world,” says a beaming Anu.
She is currently pitching a few feature films and hoping to make something long -form soon.
Comedy
While the pandemic clamped down on her filmmaking dreams, it was during the lockdown that she discovered her love for standup comedy. “Since we couldn’t congregate safely to make the films, I started to do a few gigs, first online and then in person, when people started to move out safely,” says Anu.
She feels comedy is a very quick feedback loop, because films and books inherently take years. “Even if you make a short film, it’s a very long process from the time you write it to the time you edit it and submit it to a film festival to be seen, reviewed, or critiqued. On the other hand, comedy is very quick,” smiles Anu who believes comedy helped her stay sharp.
Anu Vaidyanathan
Tough circumstances
Born in Delhi and raised in Bangalore, Anu also did a bit of schooling in Chennai. “At home and at school, I was always encouraged to do whatever I wanted. There was never any pressure,” she recalls. Her parents come from small villages in South India. “I was brought up in very hard circumstances and it always felt right to be self-reliant,” says Anu, who was a scholarship student and had been paying her own bills since the age of 18.
As a mother
Being a mother of two, Anu says her daily routine varies quite a bit depending on whether or not she manages to sleep through the night. “But I still try to maintain some semblance of a routine because I think kids latch onto that and I try to stay physically active as much as I can,” says Anu. When it comes to her comedy, however, she feels her kids are the best test audience as they are honest. “As a comedian, one needs to have instant feedback and my kids give me that.”
She still runs a lot and rides her bike though she doesn’t enjoy swimming any more. “Yoga and I don’t have a good relationship because I’m not a generally calm person and I find it very difficult to meditate,” smiles the film maker.
Anu Vaidyanathan
Challenging herself
Ask her what does it take to achieve all of the things she has achieved, Anu says anyone who has a basic love for reading and writing, besides a healthy imagination along with a bit of determination, can do wonders.
“Even sport was never about the equipment. It was never about social popularity. It was mostly about a challenge for myself, with myself. And so there was no externality to anything that I did physically, when it came to endurance athletics,” she says, attributing her success to people around her.
Nothing, she says, can be achieved in isolation.
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