A name that needs no introduction, Bhakti Kulkarni is the epitome of success earned by sheer passion and hard work.
On the 20th of May,2021, we, the students of Mushtifund Aryaans Higher Secondary School had the privilege of virtually interacting with Female Chess Grandmaster – Bhakti Kulkarni.
Ma’am begun by fondly reminiscing about the beginning of her chess journey. We learnt that she would play with her father from a tender age of 3 years itself and learnt the game from him, who himself is very fond of chess. She begun training under coach Raghunandan Gokhale at the age of 7 and has never looked back ever since. She mentioned that her parents had a huge role to play in her journey, which would have been impossible without their constant support and guidance.
We learnt that chess is not only about playing the match but requires tremendous hard work and understanding of the game. To our surprise, ma’am said that she spent 7-8 hours analysing the previous games played, planning strategies against the opponent and much more, in order to enhance her game. When asked about how she achieved the high level of concentration required, she said that she did the ‘Pranayama’ every morning and advised us to do the same.
Confronted with the question of avoiding burnout, Ma’am said that chess being her passion, is something she could never get tired of. Besides, she has a list of titles that she wants to own! Having said that, she encouraged us to always keep the student in us alive, and to have the thirst to learn more and more.
She also impressed upon us heavily, that winning and losing are a part of the game, and highlighted that no matter what, the show must go on. What separates winners from others, is their way of handling failure. She narrated some incidents which were turning points in her career and told us that when things weren’t in her favour, she maintained a positive outlook and remained self-confident, due to which she was able to overcome the odds, and this ensured that external factors didn’t hamper her performance in any of the tournaments.
She then shared with us (with a spark in her eyes), her dream-come-true moment- when she got to meet world renowned chess players – Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov, whom she looked up to. That made us appreciate how far she had come starting right from scratch, which left a lasting impression on us and inspired us immensely.
Towards the end of the session, Ma’am brilliantly answered all questions posed at her. From this session, we learnt a lot not only about chess, but also earned a lot of valuable insights on life. Our key takeaway would be the fact that despite having innumerable feathers in her cap, Ma’am is extremely grounded and continues to strive hard in order to achieve all that she aspires to.
Lastly, I would like to thank our director- Sir VPD, for constantly organising such brilliant sessions and providing us this level of exposure.
Written by, Nidhi Thakur, XI reg.