From somewhere inside her cousin’s house in Thiruvananthapuram, Vasanthi Vijayan emerges, bearing two carefully wrapped plastic covers. Putting her hands into one, she brings out a bunch of medals in gold, silver, and copper. From the other, she digs out photographs of the past where she can be seen on a racing track or else on a stage, being honoured for her many wins. Vasanthi is now 74, the oldest to participate in the Masters Athletic championships from her district Alappuzha in Kerala. She is eagerly waiting for the next Asian championship that will happen in the Philippines in November.
“But I need funding for it. They don’t give you money for your travel expenses,” Vasanthi says, smiling. For the last two Asian meets she participated in – Singapore in 2016 and China in 2017 – she got help from her relatives, organisations, and philanthropists. In Singapore, she won a silver medal in the 5km running race and 2000m steeplechase. In China, she only got a copper medal, she laments.
After that, an accident she had and the Covid-19 pandemic kept her away from races outside her home state. “My children wouldn’t let me go considering my old age and health. But after the accident, when the state meet happened, I decided to go at my own risk and my husband too had said I should go. He died nearly four years ago,” she says.
Photo credit: Rakesh Dharan
Vasanthi wouldn’t tell her children in advance about her races, she says, but only at the last minute. “It is not that they aren’t supportive, it is just their concern,” she adds. Her three sons work as labourers and one has a chicken farm.
Even as a child, Vasanthi used to do this – go for races at her school without telling her family, for they wouldn’t have allowed it. Years later, that old love for running was rekindled when she joined McDowell and Company's distillery in Varanad of Cherthala town – where her home is. “It was in 1982 and I got the job 10 years after my husband had lost his. Women labourers like me did the labelling, checking, and packing of brandy bottles, while men did the filling. I began taking part in the Factory Day and Club Day competitions the company had, and I began winning prizes too,” she says.
A few years later, she began taking part in the Masters Athletics district championships for which if she came in the first three places, she’d be sent to the state-level games. “Same way, if you win first, second or third in the state meet, you get sent for the national championship. And the first five prize winners of the national level can go for the Asian meet,” Vasanthi lists out the rules.
Vasanthi in a walking race
Her first Asian championship was in 2006 when it took place in Bengaluru. She came first for the 5000m run, second for the 1500m race, and third for a hurdle race that was then new to her. “There are races for every age group, and the age difference between people in every group will not be more than five,” she says.
Vasanthi has never had a coach or formal training. All she does is her 4 am walk and “a little running”, something she does even at this age. When she crossed 70 and stepped out for another district meet, her son had asked her, “Isn’t it time to stop yet?” and Vasanthi replied, “I won’t ever stop.”
Every month this year, she has been out for one athletic event or another. She does not go just for the love of the sport. Vasanthi loves meeting people, the camaraderie she has with her fellow runners – there is a friend in Kochi who goes with her for the Asian championships (“she is only 65”) – and the joy of seeing new places. Like all travellers, she asks simply, “Otherwise wouldn’t I just be sitting home? I’d never have been on a plane!” It gives her mental happiness, she says.
Vasanthi with her friends ready to take part in a race
In India, she has covered many states – UP, Assam, Manipur, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi, and so on. “We’d find time to see the places along the way, the Wagah border, the Golden Temple. In Ajmer, a friend wanted to visit the mosque, so we went there. Language has never been a problem,” she says.
Vasanthi is trying to raise Rs 1.25 lakh for her Philippines trip. For those who wish to contribute, her account number is 57047405036 and the IFSC code is SBIN0070483.