Tania Sachdev
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| Tania Sachdev |
T
ania Sachdev (18) has all the interests of an average teenager — movie stars, Bollywood films, internet and party-hopping. However, Sachdev is far from average. She was recently crowned India’s youngest woman chess grandmaster (GM). An alumna of Modern School, Vasant Vihar and currently reading English at Delhi’s Sri Venkateswara College, Sachdev exploded on the national chess scene by winning an impressive string of national and international titles in the 1990s. In quick succession, she bagged the under-eight, under-nine and under-ten world titles at the British Chess Championships in 1994, followed by a battery of national under-18 titles.
"I attained my first norm by winning the Asian Juniors in Sri Lanka in 2002 when I was 14 years of age," recalls Sachdev. "The second norm came with the title at the Grand Master Open, Abu Dhabi, last year. And now after drawing with Hungarian GM, Seres Lajof in July, I’ve gained the requisite points to qualify as an Indian GM," she recounts.
Right now this young GM’s sights are set on winning the World Junior Championships and Women’s Knockout Championships this month (November-December). Her coach G.B. Joshi is confident that his protégé has the makings of a world-class champ. "Chess requires a lot of time and patience which she has in abundance. Moreover Tania approaches all her milestones with strategy," he says.
Unsurprisingly, cash prizes and sponsorships have started pouring in. Currently her T-shirts sport a smattering of corporate logos — Indian Airlines, Oil & Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and Hughes Software. "Sponsorship is crucial for survival in sports because everything — foreign travel, coaches, training — is so expensive," says Sachdev.
Inevitably she has some words of advice for budding chess players. "I’d like to sum up my success formula in one word — practice. Also, keep a level head as you’re only as good as your last game," she counsels.
However, despite the pressures of competitive chess, Sachdev doesn’t believe in living a reclusive life. "Like anyone my age, I party, have fun and spend time with family and friends. But at the same time, I want to emulate my idols Vishwanathan Anand and Judith Polgar. I don’t believe these two goals are mutually exclusive," says the optimistic teen, who seems to be making all the right moves.
Neeta Lal (Delhi)
Sonal Shivananja
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| Sonal Shivananja |
Bangalore-based Sonal Shivananja (14) was recently (September) declared winner of the National Child Award For Exceptional Achievement 2004, for his outstanding accomplishments in music, art and culture. This is perhaps the most prestigious award won by this soft spoken youth whose trained, melodious and versatile voice has bagged him over 160 awards in state and national music competitions. One of the 35 high-achieving children handpicked from 20,000 applicants across the country, Sonal was presented the award by the Union human resource development minister Arjun Singh at a gala function in Delhi.
"From childhood I have been attracted to the sound of music. It makes me happy and cheerful," says Sonal who started warbling when three years of age. "After I won a few competitions in school my parents enrolled me into a formal music school," he recalls. Currently a class IX student of S. Kadambi Vidya Kendra, Sonal’s accolades include Prathibha Puraskar (2004) and Kishore Pratibha (2004-05) of the Karnataka state government, Kavya Ganga Prashasthi (2004) of the Atti Mubbe Trust and Raga Shree Prashasthi (2003) of Poornachandra Kalanikethan.
Sonal’s first public performance was in a temple in 2001. Since then he has rendered over 50 stage shows, crooned on 20 television and radio shows and performed in several different styles of music. He has sung folk songs, participated in light music concerts, rendered Carnatic classical compositions, and recited devotional songs and vachanas (couplets). Recently he has started learning Hindustani music. "There is a lot more to learn, because music is like an ocean that has no end. I want to excel in all schools including classical, folk, devotional, light and even film music," he says modestly.
Born into an education-conscious middle class family, Sonal understands the importance of academics complementing his cultural passions. Therefore he has set his sights on software programming as a career. Music, he believes will help him attain his altruistic goals. "My aim is to heal through music. There’s a growing body of evidence which indicates that music accelerates healing. I want to help cure people of blood pressure, schizophrenia and cancer through music. Once I achieve a certain standard, I hope to be able to teach music to visually and physically challenged people," says Sonal.
Sing on!
Srinidhi Raghavendra (Bangalore)