Anitha Pauldurai would not miss her everyday fitness programme for anything. The same goes for her practice as a basketball player.
The commitment paid off.
She is a national basketball player who has been receiving accolades for sterling performances, especially in big-ticket events like Common Wealth Games, Asian Games, and FIBA Asian Basketball Championship.
Now, as a crowning glory, this mother of two children has made it to the list of achievers who would be conferred with the Padma Shri Award for the year 2021.
“Since 11, I have been actively taking part in various sports and winning prizes. Coach N. Sampath encouraged me to take up basketball. Playing at the regional and State level, fetched me a job in Southern Railway, which further paved the way for me to represent the Indian team. I became the captain of the Indian team when I was just 19. I was considered the youngest captain,” says Anitha, an alumna of St. Antony’s Higher Secondary School in Santhome and Lady Sivaswamy Ayyar Girls’ Higher Secondary School in Mylapore.
A month after delivering her son in 2014, she started a workout regimen to shed the excess weight gained during pregnancy. Without reducing her food intake, she lost nearly 10 kg, purely through exercise and yoga, she says. She followed the same programme after she had her second baby.
Anitha obviously has great time-management skills, as she has done justice to various commitments: As a mother, Chief Welfare Inspector (Sports) in Southern Railway and of course, as a basketball player.
“I am thankful that my mother and husband have been supporting me to pursue my goals as a basketball player,” says 35-year-old Anitha, who is an MBA graduate.
Residents of AGS Colony in West Velachery have been proud about having a national basketball player in their midst.
Until she moved to AGS Colony in November 2020, she was a resident of Iyyapanthangal. AGS Colony Residents Welfare Association honoured her last week and plans to felicitate her after she receives the coveted award in March.