She knows how to hold a gun and shoot away to glory, she enjoys baking cakes for both humans and animals, she aces playing Veena as much as she performs Kuchipudi. Akhila Reddy Perla, all of 21 is mastering all trades and how
"Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world" sounds perfect when Akhila Reddy Perla narrates the anecdote on how she went on to become a riffle shooter, cupcake baker, gamer, Kuchipudi dancer, Veena player and singer with persistent reinforcement and unstinted support from her parents and grandparents.
Initial stages of life
Her parents sent her to Hyderabad at a young age to ensure she gets the best of education. The love and encouragement from her grandparents who she grew up with was indisputable. Her school too made her robust and inquisitive towards learning, exploring and expanding her horizon of knowledge. “I was born in a small town called Produttur, but I grew up in Hyderabad in the care of my maternal grandparents. I went to Delhi Public School. Although I was an average student at academics, I was always on the fore when it came to sports and co-curricular activities. I pursued roller hockey in Puja Public School. I did my Bachelors in Business Administration from ICFAI University. I had interned at Apollo for some time and now, I am interning at 8Views, a digital marketing firm,” the 21-year-old says.
While her grandfather ensured that she learnt to swim from the age of three, her father taught her to be independent and believe that there is no stopping in whatever she chooses to do. Her mother too guaranteed that she sticks to her roots and culture and thus got her trained in Kuchipudi. “I find inspiration and empowerment within family. My sister is my hero,” she smiles urging that she always kept herself entertained by learning to draw, paint, play, write poems and learn DIY projects whenever she has the time.
Riffle shooting:
As a kid, she grew up playing video games with her cousins. Counter-Strike was one of her favourite games. The game inspired her to hold a real gun. “I got introduced to a friend who was an air rifle shooter and got all the details. It took me a while to convince everyone at home. I joined a summer camp in 2014 after my intermediate.
I started doing both rifle and pistol in the beginning and then learned that air rifle was a better suit. I decided it was no longer a hobby and had to make it my profession. Gagan Narang had opened a couple of branches of his academy called ‘Gun for Glory’ in Hyderabad as well. I continued to train in this academy. I got a gold medal in Telangana State Championship 2015 and a bronze medal in Telangana State Championship in 2016. Both the years, I appeared for pre-nationals. I travelled to different cities namely Delhi, Pune and Mumbai. In 2016, I qualified for nationals. In 2017, I appeared for a national level championship held in Delhi and became a renowned shooter,” she narrates.
Like meditation to people, Akhila feels calm from within when she is holding her rifle. “During national championships, they have the choice of playing music in the background. But to me, it never really mattered and I was never bothered about it. Once I take my stance and lift my gun, every little disturbance starts to fade away. I can’t think about anything but focus on my technique, heart rate and breathing. I will hopefully see myself on the Indian team someday,” she says with dreamy eyes.
Education
She took up biology, physics and chemistry as her core subjects as she was asked to become a doctor. “Although I wanted to be a genetic engineer, I tried to put all my skills together and see what I could become. I realised business was my forte. I majored in Bachelors in Business Administration. I stayed on campus because it was pretty far from where I stayed and also wanted to experience hostel life. This part of my life taught me a lot of things and prepared me for the real world.
Even at college, I was a quite average person taking my academics into consideration. I concentrated on taking part in annual fests, giving performances, participating in competitions, putting up stalls, etc. I loved giving presentations and being a part of group discussions the most. I have a lot of hobbies like oilpainting, singing, dancing, playing a little bit of the Veena, fashion designing, etc,” she declares with a sparkle in her eyes.
Baking
She educated herself on baking cupcake by watching YouTube videos. She slowly started to understand the science of baking and experimented. Thanks to her love for pets, she fashioned healthy cake options for furballs.
“I started making my own recipes for different kinds of frostings and icing techniques. After gaining enough knowledge, I started my own business of homemade cupcakes, cakes and chocolates called ‘Cupcakes by Aequila’ in October 2016. I designed my own business card and I was so excited about my new journey as an entrepreneur. Making cupcakes and icing them gave me so much joy and I would do anything to get a perfect final piece. Being an animal lover, I wanted to celebrate my dog’s birthday.
And cake was the only way to my dog’s heart. But we all know feeding them too much sugar can be unhealthy and some ingredients like chocolate can cause health concerns. And so I started researching what is healthy and what is unhealthy for dogs. I do not use sugar and use healthy substitutes like a small quantity of honey and bananas and added healthy ingredients like carrots and peanut butter to make them taste a lot yummier. I started preparing small batches of cupcakes and testing them on my dogs. It worked! They loved them and it was healthy. I added the new dimension to my business and reached out to my circle through my existing Facebook and Instagram pages (cupcakes_by_aequila),”
Akila explains about aequila.
Akhila take orders through her Facebook and Instagram page and are priced at an average price of `400 per six cupcakes depending on the flavour and size of the cupcakes.
The animal enthusiast in her aims to have her own mini animal farm in the future.
— Purnima Sriram
purnima@ newindianexpress.com
@iyer_purnima