How do you choose to win?

She runs a successful IP Consultancy, is guest faculty at IIT, Ropar and IIM, Ahmedabad, trains for gruelling long-course runs and grows her own roses. India's first Ironman is a woman, and while her events don't receive as much coverage as the IPL, we were curious to find out what makes her stay true to her course. In what's probably a characteristic of pure professionalism, despite her loaded schedule, she responds to our queries in record time. Read on for insight into the life of a woman who doesn't believe in constraints or excuses.

You've mentioned that sports in an inherently selfish pursuit—can you tell us what it adds to your life that makes it worth it the pursuit? What draws you to the sport? Isn't it a rather lonely road to go down? How do you stay motivated?
I have always loved the solitude that sport brings; it's my time to meditate and be in my truest element. Yes, that is selfish; but its better than say driving an expensive car and spending money on things one never can value more than temporarily. Any road is as lonely or as populated as you choose to make it. I have a great set of training partners; I never take that aspect of participation for granted. I am in the sport for the people and the stories, alongside the milestones. That motivates me constantly.

Are you still “emotionally attached to spandex, naming your bikes and singing to your shoes”? What is your current bike called?
Not so much, I am more attached to a clean sheet of paper and an ink pen these days! I presently ride a Trek; its called Zanskar, after a north-flowing tributary of the Indus.

What is the biggest dream that you aspire to and what have been your toughest challenges? What do you regard as your greatest accomplishment?
I believe that dreams are not for public disclosure—that wouldn't make them dreams. My toughest challenge so far has been to accept our country's inequalities towards women, educated or not, rich or poor. My biggest accomplishments include being a good daughter and a good partner as well as being capable of making choices outside my comfort zone for the love of another (knowing that they would do the same for me).

Your name doesn't seem to have come up in news about recent triathlon events, is your athleticism a thing of the past or will we soon hear more of your escapades? Are you likely to participate in any events this year?
Triathlon and long-course events have no money associated with them, and therefore media obbsession is fairly low—which I like. I would run far from this sport if it were a constant source of news or I had to *gasp* participate in fashion shows to have my name come up. In the last two years, I have been working around a few injuries. Moreover, my competitions have unfortunately been timed around the IPL and the news was not picked up. Added to this, my professional commitments at work have increased three-fold, which leave me with very little time to plan differently. My sponsors and the key stakeholders are aware of this; that is all that matters at the end of the day. I prefer it that way for the time being. Given that I cannot time my participation around cricket, I have to live with it.

You seem to have taken to athletics relatively late in life. Do you see this as a constraint to success?
I was pretty active as a kid, even whilst being chubby and hating sport for the most part. I biked to school, over 5km-7km one way daily; all the way upto the 10th standard. Bangalore's roads were safe then; our childhoods were based on exploration and active evenings, minus traffic, pollution and Facebook. I took on long-course triathlons a little after college, so I had to build a foundation. Added to this, I was a Class A nerd—my biggest goal in life was academic excellence and discrete math! I don't think anything was a constraint—it was a natural process of evolution to the end goal.

Today, people expect to run marathons on a few weeks of training. I had mentors who were elitists, when it came to the process of preparation; something that was reinforced by academia. At the time I started running, there were hardly any women in Indian road races. I consistently placed in the top 10 in the earliest editions of the Hyderabad and Mumbai marathons, alongside the long-distance running legends in our country; these are the stories I remember, never the constraints and hard times.

What is your take on the lack of Indian representation in sports at an international level? Do you have an insight to offer on the very few Indian women in sport? Have things changed at all, since you started endurance sports?
I have no wisdom to offer; each to their own. My league of sport is only for underdogs, who are not dependent on it for the two things that captures imagination easily—money and fame. I love reading notes from people that tell me how they got through a tough run or situation. People I don't know at all write to me with a lot of love and affection; this is a huge and pleasant surprise. Things have changed a lot; more people are aware of the sport and a many more women are taking charge of their health.

As for athletes at the international level, you have got to be kidding me. There are hardly any, and the ones that exist are Olympic showpieces. I have the greatest respect for their achievements but lets face it, there is no majority or even a decent percentage of women at the higher levels. Given that I have a couple of jobs, I don't have the time to think about deep, systemic problems such as why women cannot run safely on roads that they also pay taxes to build without worrying about getting raped. But it is a big issue!

Do you still train regularly or is at all IP consulting and lecturing now? What is a typical day in your life like?
I dont think I will ever "stop" training. My schedule varies a lot during the season. A typical day in my life involves 8 hours of work, 6-8 hours of sleep, 2 hours of cooking, 2 hours of training and the rest of the time is split between house chores (we dont have maids; never have, never will), reading, gardening, remaining sane and of late, yoga! PatNMarks is very clear about not being an outsourcing hub. I love working with a mostly Indian clientele, watching them grow across borders and of late, our student scholars.

Can you tell us what drives you to succeed? What would you say it takes for a woman to succeed as an entrepreneur and as an athlete? Do you think there are traits common to being a businesswoman and an athlete? Have you crashed into the proverbial glass ceiling in business or in sport, or both?
I don't really know the answer; all I know is that I am someone who cannot sit and second guess life or do what I percieve is less than my best. I am driven by the clock, almost punishingly sometimes. I have no patience for people or activities that waste my time; life is too short to spend on things that have little personal value. There is really no correspondence between sport and entrepreneurship, except in having the balls to stand by what you believe in. If you have that, you could succeed at anything! Life today is pretty intimidating if you are afraid of challenges; just paying our bills should teach us that. People like me don't notice the glass ceiling; we swim around it and never look back.

Do you have a philosophy that you live and work by? What is it?
Oh boy! This changes from time to time. This year (2014) my philosophy is to smell the roses (after I grow them, recharge my batteries systematically and think about gratitude. My other outstanding dream is to see my best friend, Chandni Jafri, succeed in her latest venture—Sound and Light Social Ventures. This woman is capable of setting new benchmarks for women in business; watch her fly!

How do you balance running PatNMarks and teaching at IIT/IIM with your training and personal life? Do you have any advice for women struggling to maintain a work-family balance?
I have always said that I do things in turn, not all together. There are no magic bullets. I don't balance things too well. Most of the time, I just let things slip—which would explain three batches of roses dying a premature death owing to crazy travel schedules for work, speaking and sport. Work-family balance is a very complicated thing if you have the wrong partner or even if you have the wrong setup and expectations of yourself.
I am the daughter of two very hardworking people from an exceptionally humble background, I had no dearth of choices though. My parents taught me that balancing and excellence don't go well together—you have to choose! That being said, I am lucky to have the husband and the family I have—they work incredibly hard, every single day; so I dont have too many opportunities for self-pity. I believe the best place to underachieve is at house-work. Don't employ maids, cooks and cleaners on a regular basis, unless you are old or disabled; dependence sucks the joy out of life almost immediately. My mom (a career woman herself) has this fridge magnet which reads, "Both of us can't look good at the same time; It's either me or the House". I suppose, that is my guiding light.

What advice would you offer aspiring professional athletes?
Pursue sport for the right reasons—joy, competition and adventure. The minute that changes, change yourself or change your pursuit!