Page 60 - CIJ Sept 2025- Digital Edition

DIFFERENT STROKES

VANDANA RAO
From Tracks to Tours:

Carrying the Spirit of

Discipline Forward

Relay team reunion of Usha, Shiny, Valsamma and Vandana

Vandana Rao as a young sprinter

When Vandana Rao lines up memories of her life, they unfold like
lanes on a track — each one leading her to a new destination. From
sporting alongside legends like P. T. Usha, Shiny Abraham and M.D.
Valsamma, to switching careers from banking to global tourism,
her story is one of resilience, re-invention and quiet strength.

At Clean India Journal’s Speak Clean studio, Vandana walked in not
as the young athlete who once stunned Los Angeles in 1984, but
as a poised professional guiding groups of Indian tourists across
Europe. Yet, her conversations carried the same competitive spark
and the discipline of an Olympian… the humility of someone who
has lived through India’s sporting struggles and triumphs. Excerpts
of her interaction with Clean India Journal’s Nandakumar Marar

60 SEPTEMBER 2025 • Clean India Journal • www.cleanindiajournal.com