Slice of Life: ‘Rowing helped me develop sense of discipline, self-love’

I was a professional jazz dancer. I took up rowing to improve my core strength for the competitions I used to take part in. In 2018, I went for a month-long course. Though I was bad at rowing in the beginning, one of the captains there told me I could be a national medallist if I tried. So I decided to do it. I used to be afraid of single-skull boats as I couldn’t keep my balance. I was also afraid of losing. In a national-level competition, I made some mistakes because of my fear and came the last place. I got out of the boat and sobbed. But then the captain told me that a loss was something I could learn from and that I was to train and do better next time. I trained for 5 hours every day. Then, I won my first national medal, a bronze, in September 2019. Now, I am the strongest woman rower in Tamil Nadu. People used to demotivate and tell me I couldn’t do it. Their words still prick sometimes. They even placed a bet that I would lose a race against a good friend. I decided to prove them wrong and won that race by 100 m. I am glad to have found this sport because it helped me develop a sense of discipline, self-love, and also learnt that people might not always wish you the best. It has helped me get over my fear of losing, and now, I participate in single-skull races.