Not so long ago, Kiran Manisha Mohanty gave the impression of being a little girl lost in the world of chess. With an appearance that made Kiran look much younger than her years, the older girls did not consider her a serious contender.
But today, a confident Kiran has reasons to stand tall. She has carved a niche for herself among the elite ladies through a series of noticeable performances. Today, this 22-year-old from Bhubaneswar is a woman grandmaster (WGM). Kiran became the first person from Orissa to become a grandmaster when she won her third WGM norm at the Parachute Advanced International Chess Tournament in Bangladesh last year.
Her journey in the cerebral game began the day her father, Kishore Chandra Mohanty, took her to a local chess tournament. She was 10 years old then and it did not take her long to get engrossed in moving the pieces — armed with logical thinking and backed by encouraging parents, she was soon testing her skills in competitions. In the following years, Kiran added medals from the Asian and Commonwealth championships.
Amidst all this, Kiran made sure she never neglected her studies while admitting she was never keen on scaling the academic peaks. Kiran is, at present, pursuing her final-year BTech (IT) from KIIT University, Bhubaneswar. Though Kiran is not regular to college owing to tournaments, she tries to make the most of her time whenever she is on campus. “Sometimes I repent not being in the university 24X7 as I am missing out on so much fun and classes. But whenever I go to college, I get-together with friends and we hang out at the lawns inside our campus or go to the coffee shop nearby. We girls do have our occassional chit-chats and gossip sessions,” she says. Before moving to KIIT, Kiran got admission into St Joseph’s College of Engineering, Chennai. “However, I could not stay in the college hostel for even a month as I was very homesick. After few days, I returned to Bhubaneswar and joined KIIT,” she adds.
Kiran was never interested in studies after getting hooked to the game of 64 squares. “Even during my Class 12 days at LK College in Nayagarh, I never took studies seriously. All I had in my mind was chess. General subjects never interested me,” she says.
This self-taught champion was never keen on higher degrees. She admits to have been ‘‘deadscared” of exams. “I used to be away from studies for a month or two in a year because I had to participate in various championships. The scariest part always was when I returned to college and found the amount of notes I had to catch up on. There have been days when I just did not feel like touching the books,” Kiran smiles. Her mother Manju had a difficult time in urging her to go for extra classes and tuitions to follow up on the classes she missed out.
With a reputation of an able player, Kiran managed to evade the ragging sessions at LK College. “I never had to face any ragging as my seniors knew that I was doing well in chess and had earned a name for myself. I am sure my classmates were jealous of that,” she smiles.
She fondly recollects her felicitation ceremony at KIIT on January 26. “This event, in particular, made me feel very special. I got to meet so many dignitaries from Orissa and outside and they congratulated me for my acheivements so far,” Kiran adds.
Oozing confidence, Kiran believes in perfection. “I give everything my 100 per cent and believe that the rest is destiny. My motto is to strive for perfection and settle for excellence.” She attributes her success to her teachers at both LK College and KIIT. “They have not only helped me with my courses but also motivated me to make a career in chess,” she says. Kiran takes out time on and off from her tournaments to follow her other interests — reading books, singing and painting
— diana@newindianexpress.com
