Feb. 8: When Anindita Chakraborty participated in her first table tennis senior national championships, the USSR was still intact. And the Berlin Wall as well. A chubby, curly-haired teenager was preparing to play his first Test for India against Pakistan.
The year was 1989. Anindita was then 12.
Cut to 2017. A few months short of turning 40, Anindita played the lead role in the Bengal women's team striking gold in the just-concluded senior national table tennis championships in Gurgaon. The title returned to Bengal after 23 years. Anindita had been a member of the team that won it the last time in 1994.
Apart from the team event, Anindita and partner Sutirtha Mukherjee won gold in the doubles. To put the achievement in perspective, Sachin Tendulkar retired from cricket three years ago.
So, what keeps Anindita spinning out and smashing the competition? "I don't have any mind-boggling ambition or targets. I just enjoy playing. That's about it," said the mother of an 11-year-old girl.
Her daughter, a Class VI student at Ashok Hall Girls' Higher Secondary School, is her biggest motivator. "If I feel too lazy to go to the gym one day, she would insist that I go," Anindita, daughter Akshita by her side, told Metro at their Behala apartment.
Anindita trains at Endorphins, the gym run by strength and conditioning coach and t2 columnist Ranadeep Moitra. She eats home-cooked food and sweets are a strict no-no.
Juggling multiple roles - mother, player, officer - comes easy to this superwoman. When in Calcutta, she makes it a point to drop her daughter at school and pick her up. In between and after office - she works for South-Eastern Railway - she finds time for practice and sessions at the gym.
At night, she helps Akshita with her studies. She is on her toes during Akshita's exams, even if she is travelling. Often, during breaks in the middle of a tournament, she helps her daughter with Bengali grammar or history lessons via WhatsApp.
Mantu Ghosh, one of the top table tennis players Bengal has produced, and Anindita had been doubles partners for a long time. Mantu, who has long turned into a sports administrator, cheered her former partner from the sidelines during the final in Gurgaon.
In the team event, Anindita beat Maharashtra's Shruti Amrute, almost 22 years her junior.
So, how does it feel facing opponents half her age? "There are both advantages and disadvantages. In crunch situations, my experience and nerves come in handy. The downside is footwork and reflexes tend to take a hit in a lengthy match."
Anindita had been introduced to table tennis when she was barely five years old. Her parents, based at Hindmotor, would take her to the local club just to keep their "bundle of energy" engaged. With time, table tennis became an addiction.
At 39, her passion is still intact. The thought of retirement creeps in once in a while, especially after a defeat at the hands of a junior player. "But the next morning, I think I am still on a par with the top players. So why should I stop?" smiled Anindita.
Her husband, a businessman, encourages her to go on.
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