Despite having been through a long photo shoot Akanksha Nehra, bubbling with energy, wanted to go and run on the treadmill before the marathon.
Akanksha Nehra is literally bubbling with energy. Even though she’s had quite a long photo shoot where she had to run from one end of the beach to the other for about half an hour, she wants to go and run on the treadmill before the race the next day. And all this, in between her exams. Nehra is appearing for her exams on dietetics at SNDT Women’s College. “I had an exam in the morning today. And I have one on Monday morning. Which is why, I’m only doing the 5 kilometre run. Otherwise I would’ve trained for a longer distance.”
Where does she find the energy to train for a run in between her exams? “I’ve always lived by the credo: Conceive, believe and achieve. If you can think it, and if you believe in yourself, then you can achieve it,” she says.
Nehra has a Punjabi accent and is quite fluent in Hindi. So it was quite surprising to know that she’s only been in India for a year and a half. Nehra was born in Kenya and spent most of her life there. “But I have a passion for languages. I’m a desi at heart, so when I came to Mumbai to study I made sure that I learnt Hindi.” In a little over a year and a half, Nehra has not only mastered spoken Hindi, but she’s learnt to write it as well.
She’s also fluent in Swahili, French, English and Gujarati. Nehra has a list of things to do before she hits 25. Here are a couple of examples: Learn Muay Thai in Thailand. And climb Mount Everest.
“I’m off after my exams to Thailand to learn Muay Thai for a month,” she says. And what about Mount Everest? “May be, I’ll go to Nepal after my course is over and start training there.” Nehra seems to have no doubt when she rattles these goals off, that she’s going to achieve them. “I wanted to be the best runner in school, and I won. I wanted to enter a beauty pageant and I won Miss India-Kenya in 2010-11,” she says confidently.
The issue that drew Nehra to the Stayfree DNA I Can Women’s Half Marathon was girl child education. “In Kenya, after the elections in 2007, the government made it mandatory for all children to attend school till class 12. And they made it free. I have seen what a change that has made to the country. If we can achieve something similar in India, then in ten year’s time the face of the country will change,” she says.
The other issue she wants to stress on is fitness. “I have friends in South Africa, who train for and run triathlons in their spare time. In India, there isn’t that culture of fitness. I wish more people would get off their butts and walk, run, jog or do some physical activity. It would really help them health wise.” For the marathon participants she has a message in Swahili: Twende tu kimbiye waschana, na tu shinde leo! (Let’s run, girls, and win the day!)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}