Horsemanship embodies consummate joy

Shruti Vora is different things to different people: An accomplished equestrienne, a wife, daughter and mother. The gutsy girl was always drawn towards the charm of riding and equestrian sport.
She trained under noted equestrian Dr Reiner Klimke, who was also her inspiration to ride dressage. The granddaughter of the late industrialist Krishna Kumar Birla would go on the weekends to Germany to train during her MBA stint. She also trained briefly with Anne Jensen-Van Olst, a Danish dressage rider and Patrick Le Rolland.

Juggling responsibilities
An average day in Shruti’s life is truly eventful. She wakes up as early as 6.30 in the morning, sees off her kids Varun (14) and Aryan (12) to school and then catches a boat to Alibaug. Then the spirited lady rides her beloved horses. “I have five horses and I ride all of them till the evening,” she says. Post the adrenaline pumping riding spree she catches the boat at five in the evening and she heads back home to tend to her kids and husband Mitul Vora (involved in insurance, software and chemical business). Given her level-headed approach to life and career, Shruti manages to strike the work life balance beautifully.

“To be a mother to two adolescents is a full time job. To be effective in my field I need to maintain an extremely regular discipline and schedule to achieve my goals. I also try and out source the less essential chores so that I’m not spending my free time running around and can devote that time to my family,” she adds.

Equestrienne, wife and a mother.
One’s keen to ask her which of these is her fave role. “When I am riding, I feel nothing more exciting than the thrill of being on a horse and trying to educate myself as much as I can. As a wife, I try and fulfil the duties that are required of my husband for which he is working tirelessly to provide for my kids and me so that we can professionally and personally prosper. As a mother, it is nothing better to be with my children when they are ambivalent as the pure innocence of this is very rewarding and refreshing. You get to help this curious, enthusiastic, vibrant human being unfold and blossom and see him grow into his potential. I never knew how powerful love could be and I could be, until I was blessed with my two boys,” she shares with a hint of affection.

Penchant for horses
She quotes Mark Twain. “He rightly said ‘the two most important days of a man’s life are when he is born and one when he realised the reason why he is born.’ For me the reason at this stage in my life is horses. For me this was a love affair that started when I was three-years-old. It’s not just their beauty and strength. It’s a mutual respect and understanding for each other I have realised. It is not that horses comply with human whims and demands. It’s their intelligence, the way they can form a bond with people and give their utmost, once they realise that they are being treated well and are being loved unconditionally. They then give their fullest. It is the unique partnership of trying to create harmony and perfection with an equally competent, intelligent sentient being. This is the bond that continues to inspire me and keeps me dedicated towards such a demanding sport.

For Shruti horsemanship is a journey. “A journey, which embodies consummate joy as it gives the opportunity to develop and experience the potency and richness of ones’ talent. And with equal vigour, it conforms one with the exacting and prickly challenges of gaining control over one’s body.
And most importantly this unique aspect of horsemanship helps one brave the less, well-developed aspects of our spiritual being. Where else in the sphere of life can one hope to achieve perfection and unity with another sentient being?” she questions.

Nascent Equestrian scene
“Whilst we have a lot of young, talented and enthusiastic riders, the lack of financial support is one of the major constraints that this sport is facing. Equestrian Sport is capital intensive. It is unlike any other sport in the world because in this sport there are two athletes and investment has to be made in both! However, it is my firm belief that given the right resources, in terms of quality of horses, it is amongst the sports that can definitely get Gold medals for India at Asian and Olympic levels. My advice to youngsters would be that keep striving. Keep working with a strong sense of discipline and the results shall come,” says she.

Vitals for equestrienne growth
“Dedication, commitment and hard work are the three corner stones to success whether it is sport or business. I firmly believe these qualities are essential to stay at the top, in any field and this can be essayed in my success at the national level where I had displaced the existing national champion of five years in 2010, to re-establish myself. I believe that I have adhered to the above three cornerstones during my tenure in the past as well as my recent endeavours of re-establishing myself in the support post 2010. However, international exposure is extremely important to add to the above corner stones as the quality and the maturity in this sport can only be achieved through participation at the European level,” says she.

Shruti could not ride for almost 14 years and then got back with a bang. However, she kept herself motivated in this phase. “During the past 14 years I was extremely busy being a mother and wife. I have two beautiful children; wherein how time flew was something that I cannot recollect, as it was extremely pleasant and at that point it was the most important and essential phase of my life.

My husband and children were always supportive of my best endeavour in this sport and right after my marriage i.e. from its early years the support that I have received from my family; I knew that I would eventually get back into this sport. Hence I kept myself fit through other activities wherein my physical level was constantly tested and kept at a high level so that I knew that, when I would re-enter in this sport it could become effortless.”

Strength and weaknesses
“My greatest personal strength that permeates into other areas of my life is persistence; persistent to be good at anything that I do. I set high standards for myself. I believe in doing things well in order to be successful with what I do and with the commitments I make. A personal-strength of mine at home is that I am a dedicated mother to my children. Secondly, I am a dedicated wife. My husband and I have been together for almost two decades. To make our family a successful and harmonious one we have learnt one key skill, that is ‘prioritising’ - it is the critical skill that I have mastered not only at work but in every aspect of my life. Jotting down the most important things allows me to take decisions about which activities that take precedence so I do not miss what is important vs. what is urgent but not important,” she says.

Her personal strengths that contribute in her professional career are pride in my work and goal-oriented abilities. “The work that I produce is a reflection of who I am. I set high standards for my work, and myself. Effective goals and planning gives me a sense of purpose and direction. Once a goal is completed, we celebrate the achievement together,” she adds.

Shruti says that her major negative trait is her strive to be a perfectionist. “When I do things I do them in a certain methodical way and I am not satisfied until they are perfect in my eyes. When working on group projects, I get annoyed when others do not perform to the standards expected. I expect others to put forth the same level of effort that I do and find myself losing patience when I don’t see others having the dedication as mine,” she says.

Travelling and adventure sport
“I enjoy learning about the ways that other people live and seeing the diverse cultures that bind us humans together. I enjoy historic sites and beautiful art. I particularly enjoy local festivals and the opportunity to try different foods that I haven’t experienced before. Skiing and deep sea diving are my other interests. Both are family sport and family time. As a matter of principle we usually do not holiday with friends, so that we can be together as a family with uninterrupted agenda at all times. We usually take a skiing holiday and a short diving break every year. It is complete bonding time and is a must for us,” she says.

Challenges faced
“My facility is a labour of love as well as dedication, which sprung from the concept in 2011 to culmination in 2013. It was very important that I manage my family life as well as my professional life with a fine balance. The only way this was possible was through having the facility in the neighbourhood or nearby Mumbai where I could achieve both. The proximity to Mumbai from Alibaug was the natural choice and transportation through boat for eight months of the year. To create the facility which is unparalleled in India I wanted to replicate an infrastructure similar to the best stables in Europe where it is practically possible to not only train but also qualify for a World Event (which I am hoping to do for the 2014 World Equestrian Game) as well as host International events in the future.

In 2011 I had travelled to Europe, mostly Germany, to study and see these facilities. I also took my architect with me and entered into a dialogue with various professionals in this field from equestrian coaches to specialist consultants to provide an infrastructure to replicate, source and create these facilities in India. It was difficult as one could imagine as, though we have the cognescenti in duplicating and aping the West; no one in India is exposed to something of this skill or field prior. I had to get involved, right from design to execution to build up this facility over two years; creating an infrastructure of world class levels. During the same time I bought horses as well as maintained these horses through the limited resources available in India and continue to support this centre while importing resources like flying down vets and farriers to maintain the standards.”