Grow, glow, be a beacon to the others,
For those weak in health and vigour.
There is a way out of the bad weather,
If only you fight and do not surrender.
These lines have inspired Anuradha Venkataramanan throughout her life. Having lost her mother at an early age, Anuradha had to move to her native place with her father and two brothers. For most of her growing years, she kept to herself, suppressing her emotions. The fear of her orthodox grandmother left her feeling unwanted and devoid of affection. However, she found solace in reading, studied diligently and exceled through her academia.
Even though her marriage brought along some great days in her life, her first child was born after 12 years. She faced multiple complications throughout her treatment and even after giving birth she was advised a 3-month bed rest. Her close family rushed to be with her, but health issues kept compounding. She slowly slipped into post-partum depression and that paved the way for tinnitus and vertigo.
The tides turned when one morning a friend asked her to join a run. That was a new beginning for Anuradha and ever since there has been no looking back. She felt positive after her first run in December 2015 and started spreading the word about the joy of running through social media. It was in June 2016, when she officially joined a renowned running group in Chembur, Mumbai.
Through her group she eventually met a lot of running mentors who helped her improve her running and by December 2016 she was appointed as the ambassador of her group. Her running group allowed her to come out of her shell and be a confident person. Running also helped mitigate all her health issues.
In December 2017 she had an accident and hurt her ankle. It was during this time that she came across Mr. Croydon who introduced her to the concept of MAF running which helped her to run and recover quickly at the same time.
In all these struggles, her biggest support group has been the WOW group – Women of Wisdom. The group of 7 – Nutan Mishra, Rushali Thakkar, Jacintha Pinto, Sangita Chavan, Cocky Van Dam, Jaya Kurup and her – meet on the weekends for their long runs. They support each other in difficult times and always try to give unbiased judgements and take sensible decisions regarding issues of varying scales.
It’s not just running that binds these women together, but also the fun get-togethers and family outings that strengthens their bonds.
SIf your Sisterhood is a big support system for you and you look out for each other, share your Sisterhood of Running story with us at tatasisterhoodofrunning@procam.in