Our 13th Interviewee for “Meet the BITSians in Sports” series is Sneha Mehta(2009B4A7PS639H).
Sneha served as the Sports Secretary(Girls) in Bits Pilani Hyderabad for the academic year 2012-2013 batch. She was also the team captain for girl’s basketball team in Spree(Bits Goa’s Annual Sports Meet). She has co-organized Bits Pilani Hyderabad’s first ever sports meet, Arena in 2012. Currently pursuing her PhD in Data Mining at Virginia Tech, Sneha shares her fitness story with us..
Name : Sneha Mehta
BITS ID : 2009B4A7PS639H
Q. What motivated you to pursue fitness in the first place?
When I was very young, my mom made me join a nearby Basketball coaching center. As I grew up, I became really good and passionate about it. Eventually I got selected to represent my district in multiple state level championships. Good performance in one of those championships got me selected to represent my state of Maharashtra in a national level championship that was to be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This tournament was memorable as we defeated the then defending champions Chhattisgarh in extra time at semi-finals and finally went on to win the championship by defeating the home team. This win was special because Maharashtra girls hadn’t won a gold in 13 years. This experience motivated me even further and I continued playing semi-professional basketball until 12th grade. Along with that, in school, I was part of the local NCC battalion and went on several camps. One of them was especially memorable because it was a one month national trekking camp and I got exposure to real camping in the wild. So I’ve been athletic from a very young age and fitness has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.
Q. What are the sports/activities you are involved in and how did you
get into playing these sports?
I got introduced to Basketball at a very young age. Being good at Basketball gave me an an advantage in picking up the basics of other sports quickly. So in the 9th grade, I was the vice-captain of my school’s Throwball team that represented Vidarbha in National Throwball Championship held in Thane, Mumbai. Besides that I also played Volleyball and Shot put in school representing my ‘house’. In college, I’ve mostly spent time playing Basketball and we formed a team that represented our campus at Spree 2011 (BITS Goa Sports Fest). We lost the semi-finals to the home team by a whisker in a nail-biting encounter. I’ve also been involved in administrative activities pertaining to sports in college and was elected as a sports secretary for the year 2012-2013. After graduating, I’ve mostly played badminton (I had taken a bit of a badminton coaching when I was still in college) and Table Tennis. I was also into long distance running (mostly 10K). My best timing for 10K was 55 mins. A couple of years back I joined grad school as a PhD student. Here, I’m involved in badminton, Table Tennis and Wallyball ( a fun version of Volleyball played on a squash court and you’re allowed to bounce the ball off the walls!). I’ve played intra-university badminton, singles and mixed doubles tournaments here for two years. In 2015, I was the 1st runner-up in singles and our team was the 2nd runner-up in mixed doubles and in 2016 our team was the first runner-up in mixed doubles.
Q. How often do you engage in each of them? Any routine you follow?
I engage in the activities mentioned above 2-3 times a week or as often as my schedule allows me too. There’s no specific routine, but I make it a point to not let a week pass by without some form of physical activity. Usually I hit the gym 4-5 days a week, at gym I do 40 min cardio (15 mins warm up followed by 25 mins interval training) , weight training and abs workout. Or I opt to run for 5kms.
Q. Were you actively involved in any sports activity in BITS? Any particular memory from BITS that motivated you to stay fit?
I was a part of the initial batches of BITS Hyderabad. The campus construction was still underway and we didn’t have SAC or basketball courts or any of those equipment as you know it today. So some of us juniors along with our seniors used to go to the city to play basketball. I think those times were really memorable and helped us really bond with the seniors and motivated us to continue the incredible sports legacy of our seniors.
Q. How do you manage to spare time for these activities while working full time?
Yes it’s hard to find time, but since I’ve always been involved in some kind of physical activity it’s hard for me to let a week pass by without any activity. So I always manage to somehow squeeze in time for those activities.
Q. Do you take special care of your diet in everyday life?
No I don’t follow a specific diet, but I make sure that whatever I eat is reasonably healthy. I try to minimize sugar in-take, try to stay away from deep-fried stuff, try to have a variety in my diet so that I get as many nutrients as possible.
Q. Finally, what would be your advice to the BITSian community to stay
fit and healthy?
There are countless proofs that physical activity does good for you in long term and in your day to day life. So I would advice students/alumni to get involved in any kind of sports/physical activity, it not only improves your physique/health but also fosters certain personality traits that might be useful in the future in any kind of career you would want to pursue/pursuing.
Interviewed By : Praharshitha KV(2011A7PS019H)
