If you are a millennial kid, you must have heard his name in your GK (General Knowledge) book. After all, our general knowledge would remain a little incomplete without learning about the first Indian chess player, Viswanathan Anand. Just like the strong meaning behind his name, he changed the way India looked at the chess game. He became a synonym of Chess in India. However, not many know that Viswanathan learned to play the mind game, chess, at the young age of six.
Viswanathan, born on December 11, 1969, has a big list of achievements in his bucket. He is the first Indian grandmaster and the five-times world chess champion. And while we all know about his numerous accolades, not many know about his love story with Aruna Anand. It is said that behind every successful man, there is a woman. Well, this stands true in the case of Viswanathan Anand and his wife, Aruna Anand, who is the driving force behind his career. So, let us take a look at famous chess player, Viswanathan Anand's love story.
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Aruna Anand is more than just the 'perfect wife' of the most successful man, Viswanathan Anand. She is his manager and travel companion, also, the mother of his ten-year-old son, Akhil. For the past two decades, Aruna has proudly flaunted the tag of ace chess player's wife. She has been managing her husband's career with efficiency, and people love her for that.
Viswanathan Anand and Aruna had met each other through their parents. Anand had gone to Aruna's home to see her. And within a meeting of twenty minutes, the duo had decided that they were the perfect partner for each other. Aruna was 21-year-old and Viswanathan was 25 years old. The duo had enjoyed their short courtship period, by going out.
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Viswanathan Anand and Aruna tied the knot in a traditional ceremony in July 1996. In 2021, the duo had completed 25 years of marital bliss. Viswanathan and Aruna were blessed with a baby boy in 2011, and they have named him Akhil. In an interview with India Today, Aruna had talked about her successful marriage. She had said:
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"In our case, I think marriage was something we both needed to adjust to. In some ways, we complement each other. I am a control freak; Anand can just sit calmly in the middle of chaos. I have become patient but talk a lot. He has a great sense of humour and can laugh in the most absurd of situations. But also as a sportsperson’s spouse, you get to see upfront the good moments and the bad. And this is what really brings two people together."
After tying the knot with Viswanathan Anand, Aruna Anand's responsibilities doubled up. She was not just managing his home, but also managed his career. From preparing a schedule to planning his tours, Aruna aced her role as a wife and manager. In an interview with ChessBase, Aruna had talked about her role as a manager in her husband's life:
"I don't think I started off wanting to manage Anand's career. It was not pre-planned or ordained to be that kind of a role. I think we both got married and thought that we would just figure out how things work. But when in 1997 Groningen Lausanne happened there was a clear need to manage and plan things like getting air tickets, getting Anand to Lausanne, seeing that he was physically and mentally okay. So at that point I think it became rather a necessity that someone handles these things. I think from then on it became a natural progression that I would take care of these things while he would focus on the chess part. I don't think we sat down and told each other that this is how it was going to be. It was a very a organic process."
After 14 years of marital bliss, Viswanathan and Aruna embraced parenthood with the arrival of their son, whom they have named, Akhil. We remember during a media interaction, Aruna had revealed her husband, Viswanathan's caring side. She shared that during the pregnancy, he had pampered her a lot. In an interview with ChessBase, Aruna had talked about how Viswanathan as a father is like. She had revealed:
"I think Anand as a father is the most beautiful role I have seen him in. Though Akhil understands that Anand is something in chess and all but for him he is a playmate who always turns up and when he is there it is just a complete mayhem. And sometimes Anand is just so powerless against him."
Aruna had further revealed:
"Anand is very involved with him. Sometimes he would pick him up from school. He is also very involved with his homework and all. Akhil, for instance, is taking French and I don't know French so often he would ask Anand for help. That's why sometimes Anand would finish a game and ask me what the current homework in French is so that we can write it down quickly."
Viswanathan Anand is remembered as one of the world chess champions in the history of India. According to a report in Playersbio.com, Viswanathan Anand has a net worth of $ 3 million, which roughly converts to Rs 22,32,37,500. In 1991, at the age of eighteen, he had won his first tournament and had become India's first gold medalist in Chess.
Viswanathan Anand's professional journey is full of inspiration, and his personal life too teaches us the importance of family. We love how Viswanathan And Aruna redefined marriage in India with their 25 years of love and partnership.
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