Spinning away to glory

16-year-olds Aswin and Pranamya

Chennai-based pair skater-dancers I.K. Pranamya and Aswin Abraham are thrilled with their bronze at the Asian Roller Skating Championship

Five hours to go before the finals of the pair-skating dance event at the 2014 Asian Roller Skating Championship in China. The participating teams from 15 countries are at last-minute rehearsals. I.K. Pranamya and Aswin Abraham too are winding up their training session, going over the complicated steps, when, suddenly, while attempting a lift, Aswin slips and jams his elbow into his rib cage. Breathless, and in pain, he’s rushed to the hospital. Four hours later, he’s back in the rink with Pranamya, gliding gracefully, doing the camel spin, contact spin and variations of the swan lift …and as the competition ends they are on the podium, beaming, with bronze medals around their necks.

Scratches, aches and falls are part of an athlete’s life. None of it matters when they finish victorious. The 16-year-olds from Chennai have been skating for nearly a decade now. Pranamya was inspired by her older brother, who was a speed skater. Aswin got into the sport as part of his school’s curriculum and before he knew it, he was in love with it. “I used to skate once a week and ended up winning the rolling trophy in school. When I was in the sixth grade I wanted to do it professionally and joined Aaron Saldanha’s Alphaa Roler Skating Academy. At that time, Aaron was looking for a partner for one of his pair skaters and I gave it a shot. That’s how I started pair skating,” says Aswin.

Pranamya joined the same Academy. Initially, the two had different skating partners, but ever since they won the District skating competition together in 2011, followed by gold at the Nationals in Chandigarh the same year, they have been together. “We won gold for three consecutive years at the Nationals,” says Pranamya. Their medal tally has gone up to 19, of which 12 are gold, four, silver and three, bronze. Individually, Aswin has won 73 medals and seven solo championships, while Pranamya has 83 medals and three solo championships.

The duo has stopped pair skating, since it is physically demanding with its lifts, jumps and spins. Aswin has a slipped disc. So, now they only pair dance, which involves performing dance forms on skates. “It sure looks effortless and glamorous as we do our synchronised moves across the rink in fancy, coordinated clothes, but actually, a lot of effort goes in,” says Pranamya. Aswin, who is in Class 12 now and preparing for his engineering entrance exams, wakes up at 5 every morning and heads to the rink to practise with Pranamya and their coach. After two hours of training he rushes to school by 7.30 a.m., followed soon after by tuitions at 4, and two more hours of practice. Then it’s home and home work. A very knackered Aswin finally hits the bed by midnight. Pranamya too has a similar schedule. “I used to learn Bharatanatyam earlier but now I am so hard-pressed for time, I had to give it up,” she says.

It’s not just them; their parents too have a tight schedule. They are up early to drive them to training sessions and back. While Aswin’s parents take turns, Pranamya’s mother is a one-man army as her father is posted in Madurai. But the parents don’t complain; they are more than happy. “It’s great to watch them. Now we have picked up the nitty gritties of the game too. Earlier, when terms like 12a, 12b were used at the rink, we would think they were bus numbers, but now we know they are names of figure skating turns,” laughs Aswin’s father, displaying a list of turns and terms on his laptop.

“The numbers go up to 41. If they say, for example, 21a or b, you need to know which leg to start with and in which direction. If you start with the wrong foot, you are going to be in trouble,” says Pranamya. They practise at the Shenoy Nagar rink, which is made of concrete. At competitions abroad they have to perform on mostly wooden rinks. “We need to figure out what wheel works for what type of surface and fix that onto our skates accordingly,” says Aswin.

Pair skating and dancing is a popular sport in other countries. In India, Hyderabad, Vizag, Vijayawada, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Pune have many enthusiasts, but, unfortunately, there aren’t too many takers in Chennai. “Very few are aware of it. Also, it’s an expensive sport. Each pair of skates costs around Rs. 55,000. We need to have at least three pairs. The costumes are expensive too. There aren’t any sponsors. This could be why it’s not picking up here,” says Aswin.

With him graduating to college next year and Pranamya going to Class 12, their schedules are going to get more hectic. But they plan to keep skating for as long as they can. And what if one of them moves out of the country? “Well there are always the solo events,” they grin.