Three years ago, Ankita Konwar didn’t know how to swim. This July, she crossed the English Channel. In Kolkata for the T-shirt launch of the JBG Kolkata Marathon at The Bhawanipur Education Society College, Ankita and Milind Soman sat down with Calcutta Times to talk about endurance, ageing and what keeps them moving. This year, the marathon will take runners through Park Street for the first time, adding a new stretch to the city’s running route. For the couple, however, the conversation went beyond the finish line, about showing up when it gets hard, starting over when plans fall apart, and refusing to let age decide what comes next.
“Three years before the English Channel, I didn’t know how to swim”
For Ankita, the English Channel began with a promise to herself. On her birthday the previous year, she hiked to the starting point, looked across the water and decided she would swim it one day. The catch? She had learnt to swim only three years earlier. “Anytime you want to do anything, you have to be absolutely sure about it,” she says. “Even if you feel like, ‘I’m a fool for thinking this’, you still have to believe that you can do it and you will do it.” The crossing meant 14-15°C water, high waves and hours on a boat moving at the swimmer’s pace. “You have to be on the boat, and it is very, very difficult to be on the boat,” she says. “You would wish that, ‘Oh, I would rather be in the water than being on the boat.’” There was seasickness and shivering, but never really an option to stop. With her coach Arjun Kawle supporting her through an injury and a demanding preparation, Ankita eventually made the crossing, and is now looking towards a possible solo attempt, which she considers a very different challenge.
Pics : Rashbehari Das
“Have fun. Enjoy life. Life is to be enjoyed.”
For someone so closely associated with fitness, Milind’s philosophy is remarkably uncomplicated. “I don’t think. I just do what I want,” he says. “I just sleep enough. Eat what I want or what I need. And exercise. Whatever I feel like.” What he did at 10, he says, isn’t fundamentally different from what he does at 60. “My mantra is, have fun. Enjoy life. Life is a gift to celebrate,” he says. “So, what is the need for fitness? So that you can celebrate. If you’re not fit, you cannot celebrate.” The conversation naturally turns to food, with Ankita talking about her love for Kolkata favourites such as machher jhol and rice and Kolkata biryani. The couple also speaks about their connection with the city, with Ankita set to run her first full marathon in Kolkata. “Every time you run, the energy is so amazing,” she says. On India’s growing fitness culture, Milind says, “It’s amazing. It’s fantastic. People are really getting more aware of how they want to live their life in a different way.” His advice is simple: use your body, use your mind, and keep moving.
I’ve run through this city so many times, but I’ve never actually run a full marathon here so I’m excited for that. I can’t wait for to run through Park Street
– Ankita Konwar
“You can get older, but you should not get old”
The conversation takes a turn from endurance to ageing, and Milind is clear that he does not see 80 as an age at which he would suddenly become a different person. Asked how he imagines himself then, he says, “Like this. Exactly like this. I was like this at 20. I’m now like this at 60. So, why would I expect myself to be different at 80?” Ankita takes it a step further, imagining him “even better”, perhaps “younger” or “more beautiful”. For Milind, youth is as much a state of mind: “You are as young as you feel. So you can get older, but you should not get old.” The couple’s own dynamic reflects that outlook. Milind calls Ankita “very competitive”, while she prefers to call it inspiration. “He is so inspiring. Just because he’s my husband doesn’t mean that he’s any less than what he is,” she says, admiring how he can take on back-to-back Ironmans without seeming frustrated or agitated. “He is in a zen mood throughout. So, that’s what I would want to be.” Milind, meanwhile, says he is happy being himself, but admits there are things he would happily borrow from Ankita: “I wish I could sing like her… And she dances also. I wish I could dance like her.” For Ankita, the larger philosophy is about refusing to be boxed in by definitions. “Whoever you are today, in five years of time, whoever you want to be, you have to keep working towards that person, and you will become that person,” she says. “Never be bounded by some definitions, and one bad day does not define you.”
“She’s very competitive, but it’s all in good fun”
Ankita may not call it competition, but Milind certainly does. “Oh, she’s very competitive,” he says, describing the friendly rivalry that runs through their relationship. Whether it is running, swimming, hiking or taking on new endurance challenges, they often find themselves pushing each other. “I also see sometimes she runs faster than me. I’m like, okay, how did she do that?” For Ankita, however, it is less about beating him and more about keeping up with someone she finds deeply inspiring.Their dates, too, tend to come with a competitive or adventurous twist. They run, hike, swim, dive and take on triathlons together, with Ankita often the one scouting their next adventure. “She looks for all these things. ‘Oh, let’s go here and do this,’” Milind says. For Ankita, trying to catch up with him is part of the fun: “There should be a little bit of competition… I would have to try and catch him wherever he is.” Milind, naturally, has his own verdict: “I think it’s friendly.”
The quote, ‘You’re as young as you feel,’ is absolutely right. You can get older, but you shouldn’t get old. Youth is also inthe mind
– Milind Soman