Category Archives: Inspiration / Positive News and Features

Charishma Kaliyanda: My mum in her own words

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Charishma Kaliyanda, NSW MP for Liverpool, interviews her mother Bhanu Chottera, a former Indian Government architectural draughtsperson. 

Our Mother’s Day series ‘My Mum in her own words’ pays tribute to our mothers, showcasing the intergenerational bond between mother and child. Here Charishma Kaliyanda, NSW MP for Liverpool, sits down with her mother Bhanu Chottera, a former Indian Government architectural draughtsperson. 

Charishma Kaliyanda: What are your strongest memories of your mum?

Bhanu Chottera: My mum, known as ‘Baby’ to all, was the example of someone who gave unconditional love, she treated all her 5 children equally – no difference between boys or girls. You could never tell when she was unhappy or concerned, she was always bubbly and charming.

She always had the answers to our problems – and never refused when any of us asked for help.

Charishma Kaliyanda: She sounds a lot like you, actually! So what’s something your mum or dad used to tell you growing up that later turned out to be true?

Bhanu Chottera: They always encouraged me to study and stand on my own feet, regardless of being a girl. Education is the one thing nobody can snatch away from you and will make sure you can put food on the table. Dad always said, regardless of the situation, don’t hide away from your problems and don’t be afraid to speak out.

Charishma with her mother and grandmother (Source: Supplied)

Charishma Kaliyanda: How about Ammachi, what is the best advice your mum ever gave you?

Bhanu Chottera: Always be financially independent, and make sure you save some money as you never know when you’ll come across a rainy day when you need it!

Charishma Kaliyanda: That is definitely practical advice that we can all use. Tell me about the day I was born.

Bhanu Chottera: I felt blessed – but it was a lot of effort, because I was in labour for almost 22 hours with you!

I was so happy because I always wanted a girl. I grew up with two sisters so, in having a daughter, I knew I would always have someone to talk to, share experiences and develop a lifelong bond with.

The entire extended family was so pleased because my sister is the eldest and she was a role model for everyone else. You were also the first female grandchild on both sides of the family, and so your Thatha called you our ‘Lakshmi’.

Celebrating mum’s 60th birthday (Source: Supplied)

Charishma Kaliyanda: That’s really cute, I didn’t know that. Tell me about the world events that have had the most impact on you?

Bhanu Chottera: The first event was the 2004 Tsunami in the Indian Ocean. I had never heard the word tsunami before and didn’t know what it was until I saw the devastation created that day – so many people died, there was so much destruction and across such a large area. It made me realise that things can change in the blink of an eye, anything can happen and life is short, precious and unpredictable. It made me really think about what I wanted from my life.

The other is COVID, of course. The whole period had a huge impact on me and reinforced that nothing belongs to you, so share what you have and show care to the people around you as much as you can.

Charishma Kaliyanda: Keeping those lessons in mind, what would you say are the best decisions you made in your life?

Bhanu Chottera: The first was keeping in mind my parents’ advice and getting an education because I got my dream job working for the Indian Government’s housing department as an architectural draughtsperson. I loved my work and my lifestyle and I made some amazing friends that I am still close with today.

The second was buying a home. After coming to Australia, starting a new life from scratch here, having a home of my own was a sign that I had some roots and could stand on my feet. It made me feel like I had achieved progress and independence, and I could nurture my family (and my own garden!).

Mum on the campaign trail (Source: Supplied)

Charishma Kaliyanda: Speaking of gardens, that’s probably the biggest difference between us, you’re in your element surrounded by roses, mulch and manure and you still won’t let me forget how I accidentally killed your choko vine when I was 14! How did you feel when I told you I wanted to get into politics?

Bhanu Chottera: It was actually a shock. Coming from a different cultural background, I thought you might find it difficult to be accepted. I also saw the demands of working in politics in the media and thought it would be really challenging. At the same time, I remembered the advice I had gained from my dad, who served in the army for many years and had even fought in a World War and knew I should pass it onto my daughter. You come from a long line of fighters, so I knew you would be alright.

Charishma Kaliyanda: So how did you feel on election night when results came in that I had won? What went through your mind?

Bhanu Chottera: Which election? There have been a few!

Charishma Kaliyanda: Look, that’s a fair call.

Bhanu Chottera: The first one was a bit disappointing but I remember clearly thinking “there’s always next time, this is only the beginning”. We’ve been on a long journey, with 6 election nights in total! On election night last year though, I thought, “this is the right time”. I have seen you develop the skills and temperament to balance things and to be able to make the impact you want to on the things you are passionate about.

With mum on election night as results came in (Source: Supplied)

Charishma Kaliyanda: How about on the day I was sworn in at Parliament ?

Bhanu Chottera: That was one of the most exciting and memorable days of my life. I felt my daughter had achieved something I never thought possible. When we became Australian citizens, I remember we had the ceremony at the Liverpool Council chambers and when you were sworn in as the youngest councillor at Liverpool Council in 2016, I was blown away. To see you become a member of the NSW Parliament was a real validation of our decision to seek a new life in Australia because we wanted better opportunities for our children. You made us proud, and all the challenges and sacrifices worth it.

Charishma Kaliyanda: What do you worry about most now, regarding me?

Bhanu Chottera: Look, like every parent I always worry about your health, happiness and safety. I know the hours you work and the travel you do, as well as the stress and responsibility you take on. So I try and encourage you to maintain a healthy work/life balance.

Charishma Kaliyanda: If by encourage, you mean, nag with great affection, you’re spot on! So what about your own self, what are you looking forward to?

Bhanu Chottera: I want to stay healthy as possible so I can travel, starting with Cambodia! I try and eat well, meditate, exercise and stay connected with my friends. I really enjoy being involved with charities and community work because I like helping people and I know that people have been there to support me when I needed it, so I pay it forward.

Charishma Kaliyanda: What the one lesson you want me to take forward?

Bhanu Chottera: Always listen to people, but believe in yourself and act according to what your heart is telling you.

source: http://www.indianlink.com.au / Indian Link / Home> India in Australia / by Indian Link / May 09th, 2024

Minns names Charishma Kaliyanda as new digital and customer service parliamentary secretary, NSW Australia

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Charishma Kaliyanda (second from right) is NSW’s new parliamentary secretary for customer service and digital government, emergency services and youth justice. (Photo: Facebook)

NSW Premier Chris Minns has appointed lower house member Charishma Kaliyanda as the state’s new parliamentary secretary for customer service and digital government, emergency services and youth justice, replacing Anthony D’Adam, who was sacked a month ago after labelling the state’s police commissioner a liar.

Elected to Parliament in 2023, Kaliyanda’s appointment comes as Minns and NSW Labor attempt to fend off growing criticism in several parts of Western Sydney that many local members simply don’t reflect the communities in their electorates or make it to junior ministries let alone cabinet.

While there are some high-profile exceptions like Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, Jihad Dib (Kaliyanda’s senior minister) and Industrial Relations Minister Sophie Cotsis, the composition of the first Minns ministry was notable for its Anglo-Celtic weighting.

Community diversity and preselection of state and federal candidates, especially from southwest and western Sydney, have become an increasing friction point across the Australian political spectrum, with Labor losing once safe seats like Fowler to local independent candidates like Dai Le after locals were sidelined for so-called captain’s picks like Kristina Keneally.

Fairfield, where Le whittled down Labor’s margins to just a couple of points as a Liberal state candidate, is somewhat of a case study in how and why migrant communities abandon major parties, with former Fairfield Labor mayor Frank Carbone also quitting his party to run for council on an independent ticket.

You can’t undo years of electoral neglect overnight, but you can make an effort to listen.

Indian diaspora is one of Australia’s fastest-growing migrant communities, now numbering close to 1 million, and the ties are strengthening.

Australia appointed its first consul-general in Bengaluru, Hilary McGeachy, in 2023, adding diplomatic muscle to the massive nation’s south, which includes the states of Karnataka and Telangana.

The capital of Karnataka is Bangalore (population 15 million), which positions itself, for better or for worse, as India’s Silicon Valley.

In an interview with Indian Link , a community publication founded in 1994, Kaliyanda says it “empowers and elevates the South Asian community in Australia, by telling their stories and unpacking their experiences in a nuanced and unbiased manner” reaffirmed her commitment to her community.

“I had thought deeply about what I will wear on my first day as an MP. I wore a blue sari from Karnataka, draped in the Kodava style, with a Waratah broach,” Kaliyanda told the community publication.

“I wanted to share that I will be bringing my whole self to this role and to the Parliament — my commitment to and love for my community in wearing the colours of NSW, and my pride in where I come from and the diversity of my community in wearing a sari specifically from where I was born and in the Kodava style.

“I did struggle with it because there wasn’t really a playbook for what to do and what was expected but I was encouraged to “be myself”, and so I wanted to share my authentic self with our broader community.”

Asked who gave her the best advice for the first time in the bear pit, Kaliyanda told IndianLink: “two Labor Party colleagues, Jihad Dib and Sophie Cotsis, who were very supportive and full of advice.”

“There’s a lot to learn, so take it slow and ask questions as much as you can, Jihad told me,” Kaliyanda said.

Take it slow? That just changed. Welcome to the ministry.

source: http://www.themandarin.com.au / The Mandarin / Home> Careers / by Julian Bajkowski (headline edited) / June 17th, 2024

The Honest Always Stand Alone: A tribute to power-bureaucrat CG Somaiah

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During Rajiv Gandhi’s regime in 1980s, Delhi police commissioner Ved Marwah had a “security breach” as his car had reportedly intruded in the route of the visiting Russian Prime Minister. Then home minister Buta Singh almost made up his mind to suspend the senior cop, but it was one influential IAS who persuaded Singh not to punish Marwah. He was CG Somaiah who began his career as an assistant collector in Orissa only to rise up the ladder to become Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

CG Somaiah is no more. Somaiah died in Bangalore  on Monday following brief illness. Somaiah, 79, is survived by wife Indira, and one son and a daughter. Incidentally, his daughter Pria (In picture with her father) is married to Nikhil Alva, son of Congress leader and Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva.

As the home secretary of the country during Buta Singh’s regime, Somaiah played a key role not only in fighting Punjab terror, but was instrumental in clinching a deal with student leaders from Assam who were agitating against illegal Bangladeshi migrants. He also served as Central Vigilance Commissioner and had a six-year-long tenure as Comptroller and Auditor General of India

Only two months ago, Somaiah’s book titled, “The Honest Always Stand Alone”, was released in New Delhi  by former president APJ Abdul Kalam.

STANDING TALL Former President APJ Abdul Kalam releasing C.G.Somaiah’s “The Honest Always Stand Alone” / pix credit: The Hindu (July 21, 2010)

source: http://www.babusofindia.com / Babus of India / Home / posted by BOI Team / September 15th, 2010

On The Half-Tones Of Truth

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C.G. Somiah’s memoirs, in both form and content, reflect his famed qualities: uprightness and modesty.

On The Half-Tones of Truth

It is perhaps an acknowledgement of whatever fairness is left in the system that C.G. Somiah managed to make it to the top echelons of the Indian Administrative Services without ever swerving from his values and convictions.

Born in 1931, Somiah joined the IAS in 1953, beginning in Orissa and ending up in Delhi. It was from his father, a forest officer to whom he was deeply attached, that he internalised the value of honesty. Later, he forged a similar companionship with his wife, Indira, whose counsel he seeks in tricky work situations.

But one wishes he was more introspective on some of the situations he describes. His struggle against the politician-contractor nexus on tendu leaves, for instance, which he won to a limited extent, is now a more serious problem in Orissa, stained with the blood of Maoist and state violence.

There are other passages that break through these self-imposed boundaries. Returning from Koraput, after the inauguration of a chromium factory, he reflects: “On the way back we passed by the Sunabeda where once a virgin forest stood!…. Instead of the twinkling lights of the new township, my eyes could only see the ancient forest that once occupied this land with majestic trees. This is the forest that I had once helped to uproot to make way for the township.” This ambivalence of the administrator, bereft of a universally accepted vision of development, still lingers. On the other hand, his spare style ensures that there is no sensationalising of the many exciting matters of state that could certainly have turned the book into a bestseller. 

Union home secretaries always live in interesting times. Somiah’s tenure seems to have been especially so, given the demands of a young prime minister in a hurry, the delicate relationship between the then home minister Buta Singh and his deputy Arun Nehru, negotiating the mistrust between the President and the PM to avoid a constitutional disaster, the successful conduct of Operation Black Thunder and fashioning the Mizo and Gorkhaland accords. Somiah describes these from his vantage point, always careful to narrate only the facts.

What stands out is his innate decency in these difficult situations. After Operation Black Thunder and the successful flushing out of terrorists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and when his suggestion to Buta Singh and Governor Siddhartha Shankar Ray about him visiting the Golden Temple and paying his respects is overlooked, he makes the trip with his wife, which assuaged much of the perceived hurt. As home secretary, Somiah was once caught by a Delhi constable for jumping a traffic light while returning from a dinner outing with his family. He paid the fine and got away without disclosing his identity. What is not lost on the reader is that they dined at a very modest restaurant and that the Union home secretary was driving his personal Maruti.

Somiah emerges as a deeply spiritual person, proud of his Kodava heritage.  There is no pretended conflict of interest when he, as part of the home ministry, rejects the suggestion to ban the Kodava right to possess guns—he compares it with the right of the Sikhs to hold kirpans. Of course, he also wryly notes that the first time his community chose to honour him was when he had the word ‘general’ suffixed to his name as Comptroller and Auditor General of India!

Somiah is genuinely proud of his contributions even if he recounts them in a manner that would warm the hearts of accountants. On the Shah Bano case, he acknowledges that it is the flip-flop between a decision that was right in secular India and the subsequent backtracking that led to the situation spiralling out of control.

This is an unpretentious book, without any name-dropping on matters of high state policy to suggest the author was the backroom guy who made it possible. Similarly, no pontificating on governance, the staple of many boring civil service memoirs. Instead, just as he diligently worked to excel in tennis in school and later in bridge, Somiah seems to have gone about reaching the top of his profession with his fair share of tribulations, which he takes in his stride.

“C.G. Somiah…stands by what he has written and takes full responsibility for it,” says the publisher’s note. It’s a good summation of Somiah’s approach to work and life—showing the courage to stand for what one believes in.

(R. Gopalakrishnan is additional secretary to the Prime Minister)

source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> Books / by R Gopalakrishnan (see above) / Outlook Web Desk / February 05th, 2022

Cheppudira Arun Machaiah Appointed As Joint Chief Of Karate India Organisation (KIO)

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Former MLC and International Karate expert from Kodagu, Cheppudira Arun Machaiah has been appointed as the new Joint Chairman of the Technical Commission of Karate India Organisation (KIO).

Director of World Shitorio Karate Council and President of All India Shitorio Karate Organisation, Arun is the first Kannadiga to achieve the highest post of KIO.

source/content: starofmysore.com (headline edited)

Europe To Receive First EUDR-Ready Coffee Verified By Rainforest Alliance

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India’s High Range Coffee Curing is poised to become the first farm verified by the Rainforest Alliance to ship EUDR–ready coffee beans to Europe later this month.

The coffee farm partnered with the Rainforest Alliance to meet the necessary compliance requirements of the regulation.

Established in 1995, High Range Coffee Curing is located in the Periyapatna and Kushalnagar Coorg districts, among 142 hectares of tropical forests, and is known for its quality beans.

The farm supplies coffee to leading global coffee brands, roasters and traders in India, including Nestle , Unilever, E-Com Commodities, Olam, Continental Coffee, Louis Dreyfus Company , Vidya Coffee and Allanasons.

EUDR-Ready Coffee

Zaidan M Saly, director of High Range Coffee Curing stated, “Implementing EUDR  [EU Deforestation Regulation] posed significant challenges for our team, but with the invaluable guidance from Rainforest Alliance representatives in our region, we overcame them and gained confidence in the process.

“Their expertise made the seemingly daunting task entirely feasible, facilitating a smooth and successful implementation, which now not only guarantees adherence to EUDR regulations but also sparked a revolution in our approach to traceability.”

Rainforest Alliance certification enables coffee and cocoa farmers to opt in for EUDR-aligned criteria.

This allows companies to source from these farms, track ingredients along their supply chains, and leverage farm data to demonstrate compliance with the regulation’s deforestation risk assessment and mitigation requirements by the deadline, at no additional cost.

‘Sustainable Practices’

Miguel Gamboa, coffee sector lead at the Rainforest Alliance stated, “The EUDR represents an important step forward to shift the global coffee sector towards more sustainable practices.

“Yet, many smallholder coffee farmers need support to align with the requirements, including traceability, deforestation risk mapping, local laws, and practical and technical guidance on key environmental practices.”

The Rainforest Alliance has urged the EU Commission not to dilute or delay the legislation or postpone its deadline in response to calls from some companies and governments.

It has also called on companies not to scale back purchases from smallholder coffee farmers, but rather support them in meeting the deadline of this legislation.

Gamboa added, “We are also piloting a deforestation risk assessment offering for companies buying non-certified coffee and cocoa, which we plan to roll out more widely later this year.

“With this offering, we aim to support more companies in their journey to compliance, but more importantly, to also reach non-certified farmers so their products can still be sold on the EU market.”

source: http://www.esmagazine.com / ESM, European Supermarket Magazine / Home> Supply Chain / by Dayeeta Das / May 06th, 2024

At 79, Padma Shri Ummathat Ki Rani is busy pushing for a Kodava ‘lipi’

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Rani’s entire career has been dedicated to preserving and promoting the folk dance form, Ummathat, of the Kodava tradition.

Rani Machaiah (seated) was felicitated at a function in Madikeri on Thursday, 26 January. (Supplied)

The news came as mellifluous as the song that accompanies Ummathat, the traditional dance form of Kodagu.

Rani Machaiah — better known as Ummathat Ki Rani  — was at her home in Madikeri when she received the news of the nation honouring her with Padma Shri.

Congratulatory calls have been flooding her from relatives, friends, well-wishers, and most importantly, from her large number of students since Wednesday, 25 January.

“A train of thoughts crossed my mind,” the 79-year-old shared her experience with South First. “I have worked for around 50 years, promoting this traditional dance form.”

She has been leading Ummathat since 1984 and she had trained over 10,000 students.

Rani recalled taking her students to different states to showcase the dance form. “Ummathat is performed by a troupe of 20 — two will be singing and the other eighteen will dance to narrate a story,” she explained.

“This dance form is similar to the traditional ones of every other state,” she added.

Creating masters

Rani doesn’t dance anymore. But she still teaches students to master the art form. She had trained several batches of students.

Padma Shri Rani Machaiah. (Supplied)

“Once they get married, they leave and a new batch joins. Girls of any age can join the troupe,” Rani said.

Her students had performed in Lakshadweep, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and several places across Karnataka.

“We get invitations from various places and institutions from all over the country and we perform our traditional Ummathat there,” Rani, who has dedicated herself to preserving and promoting the traditional dance form, said.

Rani was born in 1943 in Siddapura in the Kodagu district. Her husband, the late Machaiah, was an advocate, who passed away when she was 65.

Her son, Sathish Machaiah, 55, is a software engineer in Bengaluru. Rani’s daughter, Saritha Devaiah, is a homemaker in Kodagu. Her husband Devaiah owns a plantation.

When asked about her inspiration to take up Ummathat, Rani said it was personal interest.

Now, a lipi

Rani is the chairperson of Kaveri Kalavrunda Sangha, an organisation she founded. She is the recipient of the Rajyotsava Award and many other honours.

She was a former president of Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy and at present, she is encouraging groups of Kodavas working on designing a lipi — alphabet or script — for the Kodava language to preserve its literature since the language doesn’t have a lipi now (traditionally, Kodavas use the Thirke script, which is an abugida).

“It will look somewhat similar to Kannada and it will have phonetics and extra words that are used in the Kodava language in Kannada lipi,” Rani said.

source: http://www.thesouthfirst.com / South First / Home> States / by Bellie Thomas / January 27th, 2023

New species of spider discovered in Kodagu district

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This is only the second documented occurrence of the Ligdus genus in 129 years, according to naturalists.

Ligdus garvale spider discovered in Kodagu district. | Photo Credit: special arrangement

A group of naturalists from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka recently discovered a new species of spider in Kodagu. They named it Ligdus garvale after the village where it was found. Garvale, a village in the Somwarpet taluk of Kodagu district, is where the spider was discovered.

This jumping spider is significant as it represents only the second documented occurrence of the Ligdus genus in 129 years, according to naturalists.

The research team includes John T.D. Caleb from the Department of Anatomy at Saveetha Medical College & Hospital in Chennai, A. Divyashree from Kuvempu University in Shankarghatta, A.P.C. Abhijith from Indraprastha Organic Farm in Mysuru, and Lohith Kumar from Montrose Golf Resort and Spa in Kodagu.

According to Ms. Divyashree, Ligdus garvale was found in Garvale village, which is surrounded by agroforestry. “Coffee plantations are prominent in the area, along with pepper and paddy fields where the Ligdus Garvale, a jumping spider, was found,” she added.

After the team of naturalists observed the spider and recorded their findings, they sent the specimen to Mr. Caleb for anatomical examination. “Ligdus garvale represents just the second recorded occurrence of the Ligdus genus in 129 years. The first, Ligdus chelifer, was documented in Myanmar in 1895,” Mr. Abhijith said.

Mr. Abhijith explained that the eight-legged creature was discovered beneath the leaf of a torch ginger plant in Garvale village in north Kodagu. “The Garvale jumping spider measures approximately 0.2 inches in length. It has eight legs, eight eyes, and a body covered with fine pale hairs. Only one male Garvale jumping spider was found, and the new species was named after the Garvale area where it was discovered. So far, this is the only area where it has been found,” he added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> India> Karnataka / by The Hindu Bureau, Bengaluru / May 24th, 2024

Home Minister Calls On Family Of Beheaded Girl In Kodagu

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Compensation will be paid to deceased Meena’s parents after poll code ends

Madikeri:

Days after U.S. Meena, a 16-year-old minor girl, who was brutally beheaded by a man at Mutlu village in Somwarpet taluk of Kodagu district, Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwar visited the residence of the victim yesterday and consoled her parents.

Meena, an SSLC student of Surlabbi Government High School, was brutally beheaded by 33-year-old Prakash, the  man who was said to be engaged with the girl in the morning of May 9. The SSLC results were declared the same day and she had passed  the exam but unfortunately was killed the same evening. Her mother Janaki too sustained injuries in the assault and was treated at a Hospital in Mysuru.

Speaking to presspersons, Dr. Parameshwar said that preliminary investigation suggests that the girl was killed as the accused got furious over postponement of marriage on the grounds that the girl was a minor.

Maintaining that the Government would not tolerate such brutal acts and has taken the case seriously, he said that a Special Court will be established for speedy trial and the accused will be punished as per Law.

Pointing out that a Special Public Prosecutor too would be appointed for ensuring that the culprit gets the harshest punishment, Dr. Parameshwar said that the girl’s family would be paid compensation by the Government once the Model Code of Conduct for the LS polls comes to an end.

Replying to BJP leader and former CM Jagadish Shettar’s assertion that Law and Order has collapsed in the State with murders and other heinous acts occurring across Karnataka, the Home Minister said the Congress Government does not need a certificate from Shettar.

Noting that crimes were on the rise during the previous BJP Government too, he said the people would themselves give certificate to the Government.

Replying to a question on investigation into Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna’s sleaze videos and pen drives, Dr. Parameshwar, who seemed upset at the question, said that it is not correct to speak about the case here.

Madikeri MLA Dr. Manthar Gowda, Kodagu SP K. Ramarajan, ASP Sundarraj and others were present.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News> Top Stories /May 17th, 2024

Unnathi sprinting to master bigger hurdles

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The 18-year-old from Karnataka is making giant strides on the big circuit.

Karnataka’s Unnathi Aiyappa is headed to the World Athletics U20 Championships to be held in Lima, Peru in August after qualifying in both the women’s 100m hurdles and 200m events. Credit: PTI Photo

Bengaluru:

Unnathi Aiyappa is in the midst of a transitional period. It is a phase where every decision the teen athlete makes in the present is to help her leapfrog towards cementing future goals. Her recent results are a testimony to this. 

After having already qualified for the women’s World Athletics Under-20 Championships 100m hurdles to be held in Lima (Peru) from August 27-31, the 18-year-old from Karnataka breached the qualification mark for the 200m race as well by winning the gold at the National Senior Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar on Monday with a personal best timing of 23.85 seconds.

Less than a month ago, the youngster had finished with a bronze medal in the 100m hurdles at the Asian U-20 Athletics Championships in Dubai.

“Our main goal is to get Unnathi to become a 400m hurdler,” says father and coach BP Aiyappa. “Whatever we are doing now with the 100m hurdles and 200m is a preparation towards that goal,” he adds. 

Speaking about the races over the last few days, Unnathi, who ran a mistake-laden semifinal where she was slow off the blocks and in the curve, focussed on overcoming the flaws in the final where she was chasing time more than the gold. The ‘unexpected win was extra special, says the girl from Kodagu as she beat seasoned sprinter Srabani Nanda in a photo finish for her first medal at a senior meet. 

“We will get her to compete in four more events before the World Juniors and based on the progress in both the events (200m and 100m hurdles), my idea is to enter in only one event in Lima. I don’t want to put too much load on her body as a junior and she will focus on these two disciplines for another year-and-a-half. We will completely switch to 400m hurdles only after that,” explained Aiyappa. 

“The 400m hurdles has a rhythm to it which is addictive. But 400m is just going all out. It’s boring,” says the daughter of Olympian Pramila Aiyappa. 

If fine-tuning her running skills or blazing the tracks is her primary vocation, the teen is part of a growing brigade of Indian women athletes who enjoy upping the fashion quotient while competing or off it.

“I recently learnt how to braid my hair. I wore some eye-liner and lipstick and did some nail art for the first-time while racing in Dubai and here. It is important to look pretty when you win. No?!,” reasons Unnathi, who takes inspiration from USA’s sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson. 

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Sports> Other Sports / by Hita Prakash / May 15th, 2024