Anu Vaidyanathan is a multifaceted Indian professional known for her work as an engineer, athlete, author, filmmaker, comedian, and entrepreneur whose memoir Anywhere But Home was long-listed for the Mumbai Film Festival's word-to-screen market in 2016.
Vaidyanathan is the founder of PatNMarks, an intellectual property consulting firm, and Avani Films, a film production company.
She made her Off-Broadway debut with a solo BC: AD (Before Children, After Diapers) show at the Kraine Theater on January 12, 2023.
Anu is taking two feature scripts to the market this year. One is a bilingual film in Tamil and English – a satirical thriller with a bit of action. The protagonist is a woman who is a complete badass.
In 2006 Vaidyanathan became the first Indian triathlete, male or female, to complete an
Ironman Triathlon
An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consid ...
. In that same year, she became the first Asian triathlete to finish an
Ultraman
The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series '' Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fi ...
Early life and education
Vaidyanathan was born in
New Delhi
New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
and grew up in
Bengaluru
Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
and
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
. She was interested in
technology
Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...
and
sports
Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...
from a young age, spending much of her childhood learning to program.
Vaidyanathan earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in
computer engineering
Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software.
It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science.
Computer engi ...
from
Purdue University
Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...
and
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...
. She later completed a
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in electrical engineering at the University of Canterbury in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
.
Career
In 2009, while working towards her PhD, she became the first Asian woman to complete the Ultraman Canada event. She is the first India-based athlete to train for an participate in
Ironman Triathlon
An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consid ...
. Vaidyanathan was the first Indian woman to have qualified for the
Half Ironman 70.3 Clearwater World Championship in 2008
She has served as the visiting faculty at
IIM Ahmedabad and
IIT Ropar. Her memoir ''Anywhere But Home – Adventures in Endurance'', was published in 2016.
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]
See also
*
Sports in India
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaidyanathan, Anu
Living people
People from New Delhi
1984 births
Indian female triathletes