Anu: Techie, Teacher and Triathlete
By Hitesh Shetty

The booming IT industry in India has empowered many Tech Specialists to make more time to pursue their passions. Techgoss catches up with Bangalore born and raised Dr. Anu Vaidyanathan who has earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering in record time, hacked Linux and open source at IBM,  taught at IIT and IIM – all while becoming the most successful Indian female Triathlete ever.

Techgoss: Tell us about your Educational Qualification? What kind of IT have you studied? Which IT companies and software did your work with?
Anu Vaidyanathan: I have a Bachelors and Masters in Computer Engineering (graduated with both in 4 years total). I have a PhD in Electrical Engineering (as telecommunications is clearly the most happening field of research today) and I set the department and University record by graduating in 26 months. I’ve worked with IBM in the past and have hacked Linux (and many open source projects) and closed-source projects (like K42, a 64-bit Operating System).

Techgoss:  How did you land up studying engineering and computing? What were the factors that helped your decision to study technology?
Anu Vaidyanathan: I was raised in Bangalore and IT was all around us. It was more than just stereotype to want to be a Computer Science/Engineering graduate. The factors that helped my decision included having very liberal parents (never any pressure from them to achieve or push myself), amazingly competitive peers and definitely an inherent passion for Engineering (mostly Physics and Algebra).

Techgoss: How was your association with IIT?  Were you teaching there?
Anu Vaidyanathan: Yes, I was teaching at IIT Ropar, first as Visiting Faculty then being tenured as Assistant Professor on Contract. I also got married when I passed my interview.  So, I decided to put that on hold and joined my husband in Ahmedabad, where I took up another visiting position at IIM Ahmedabad.

Techgoss: How and when did you get interested in Triathlon and who were your first inspirations? How did you get started?
Anu Vaidyanathan: I got interested in Triathlons in college. I had a couple of Indian graduate student friends (Pat, I hope you are reading this) who inspired me by showing me how wonderful sport can be. I got started by running 3km around campus and then building it up from there. I am inspired on a daily basis by the women in India, who juggle a home life and work and still find time to walk or jog in the mornings with canvas keds or in sarees!! They are my inspiration alongside my family and best friends.

Techgoss: How does it feel to be India's only Ironman Triathlete with Ultraman title? Any advice you would like to give especially to our women techie readers, who wouldn't even dream to achieve something like you did?
Anu Vaidyanathan:  I don’t think too much about my titles and records as I’m afraid that it will make me complacent.  It feels incredibly good to get noticed for something that is really a private pursuit. I also love it when the kids in my neighborhood ring my bell after some newspaper article or another and ask me questions about my races and travels. Initially, the most profound question I faced about my sport was from my 5 year old neighbour, with her hands on her hips, who wanted to know why it was called "Ironman" and proceeded to ask me if I were a man or a woman :)

Advice to women in tech would be to really try and work out 4-5 times a week, even if it is only for 20-30 minutes.  Being at the computer for too long fries one's brains (and I know this from my first-hand experience) and it doesn't help if you are hoping some cute boy will notice you =).   A tan (obtained by long hours in the sunshine) does help the dating scene!  More seriously, my husband is a hard-core geek but we both know that a bit of physical exercise a day keeps his sleep and moods regulated and we wake up feeling healthy and hearty and positive about life. This also helps us be better daughters, wives, husbands, sons, fathers and mothers..... so I definitely recommend time outside.

Techgoss: How do you rate your journey until here as a Triathlete? Tell us about the sacrifices and pain that you had to undergo in achieving, where you are today.
Anu Vaidyanathan: I would say the journey was life-transforming. I’ve found a part of my identity through sport. It has made me very tough in the head. There are too many sacrifices to list, but the biggest sacrifice was laziness and fatalism - not bad things to lose. I underwent a lot of pain when I got very badly injured last year. This year also started very badly with the earthquake in New Zealand (where my husband and I were on our honeymoon!) but we are picking up the pieces and moving forward. Without the bad days, one couldn't appreciate the good days.

Techgoss: Now that you have your eyes set on the Ironman title which you aim to achieve by 2015, What training programme and other race events are you are in line to improve your chances of winning the Ironman title and doing the country proud?
Anu Vaidyanathan: My goals are purely personal. What I really mean by that goal is that I want to be the very best athlete I can be. I believe this is a commitment of a lifetime, with no shelf-life or hard deadline. That being said, every year I measure my progress at various races and events. My training programme varies a lot during the year. I do a few sessions of each sport, every week and also include a serious gym routine (it helps keep my body's imbalances in check and is generally good for women to do a bit of strength work every week). I have a couple of races lined up in Asia early in the year and then in the USA after July. A full race-schedule will be up on my website in a fortnight.