Saranya is no longer a life’s pawn

Pune: As she held the trophy of the junior national chess champion close to her heart, 18-year-old J Saranya remembered the flower garlands that her mother sold on the pavements of Chennai. Saranya clinched the prestigious national title on Friday at the boxing hall of Pune’s Balewadi sports stadium where the junior national chess championship was held.
Saranya’s national junior title will pitch her into the top ranks of chess players in India. She dedicated her win to her hardworking mother J Thangarani saying, “This title is for my amma.” Her mother, Thangarani sold flower garlands, mud and plastic toys in the streets of Thiruvottiyur in north Chennai, for a living. Saranya’s father who was an autorickshaw driver, deserted her mother and two daughters.

“I am proud of her. Though she is uneducated, she is the one who made us sisters what we are today,”said Saranya.

“My elder sister and I used to study tuition near a chess academy, the Bloom Chess Academy. After our tuition classes, I would watch kids train there and that’s where I kick started my journey with chess,” she recalled.
It was here that MA Velayudhan, the coach at the Bloom Academy who first noticed the two sisters, called them in to have a go at the game. They were quick learners and later Thaigarajan, one of the well-known coaches in Chennai picked them up for training from the academy. And since then, Saranya has won the Under- 13, 17 and now 19 nationals. She says:

“ I have a long way to go, these are just beginner’s steps to a journey of success.” Sure, champ.