Interview sessions with "Pranab Prakash"

This is something  new that I have just recently started up on my blog. I felt that it would be more engaging and at the same time would be more enjoyable to see from the point of view of the audience. I have recently begun doing interviews with people that work in the sports industry who are either former athletes, current players, coaches, or simply have a great deal of experience working in the Indian sports industry.

So, I just recently had my first interview with Pranab Prakash. Although I had planned on sharing the entire call with all of you so that it would be more engaging and fun to watch, I had to resort to writing about my interview because of a few technical issues. I hope you enjoy reading about my first interview experience.

Here is a little background on Pranab Prakash- although he was introduced to sports a littler later than usual at the age of 15/16, he really exceled in his sport and continued to play rugby for 11 years during his journey as an athlete he represented not only his state but also the nation at an international level and ever since then he has been oriented in the sports industry although he did not continue his journey as a rugby player he yet plays rugby as his passion and in his free time coaches kids, He also competes in other sports recently he competed in a triathlon competition and he also wishes to compete in golf someday soon… . Being an athlete does give him an advantage over others, even in his professional life, as he is the Southeast Asia business head of a well-known Indian health and wellness digital company called "HelathifyMe." This company helps you track calories and also gives advice on nutrition and fitness, so the fact that he is an athlete does give him a competitive edge. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun during our discussion, and I learned a lot about his history and journey, as well as his opinions and recommendations regarding the Indian sporting sector.

Here is a glimpse of our interview :

A journey of an athlete is definitely not the easiest, all athletes have their struggles and ups and downs and their own stresses and that was the same way it was for Pranab in our interview he mentioned that he had his own challenges and his journey wasn’t easiest , He played rugby for 11 years and rugby as we all know was yet comparatively a niche sport 10-11 years ago and also a very physically oriented and intense sport and he would train 7-8 hours a day and a schedule of all athletes circles around their training , rehab , nutrition etc.. and so did his but he always had it lurking in the back of his mind if he should turn pro or not? But eventually he said that he wanted to settle down and most definitely earn enough for himself and he wasn’t wrong the sports culture , support , scholarships and even rugby as a game wasn’t that developed yet as it is now, I asked him what support could the people, government and even organizations could have given for him to actually pursue rugby? he replied by saying that “if there was more support from the grass root level if schools could have taken more initiatives by helping athletes with submissions , supporting them , encouraging kids to pursue sports , spreading the sports culture in schools and not make it so marks oriented then that would have helped athletes tremendously , Even the government, organizations , companies could fund athletes , give scholarships and even help them with training costs and pay them well” . This way if schools start supporting giving extra marks for sports and giving the same weightage for sports and academics, Parents will become more supportive and would support their children to take up sports professionally.

I also mentioned that being in the sports industry does not necessarily mean that you have to be an athlete, the sports industry has really expanded over the past 10 years and is huge from sports marketing to events there are various options available , He added to that by saying that even if you aren't an athlete anymore, you can always be oriented with it just like I am. he says , Not only does he keep up his athletic pursuits, but he also has a job in a company that works with clients in the health and fitness industry. Not everyone can be a successful athlete, but it really depends on how connected the person stays to their passion

Pranab also gave very good advise to athletes who wish to pursue sports as a career , he says “athletes should always have a goal in front of themselves to see where they are headed and they should know what would they want their lives to look like after sports cause realistically speaking not all athletes are going to make it to the Olympics he says , so you should know what you’re inclined towards post your sports journey like coaching, working in the sports sector, or completely leaving that chapter of your life etc.. you always should have a direction a path you’re following and a plan” he said.

However the most important thing we spoke about is nutrition cause personally I feel nutrition is really not given importance in India and is actually the most important ingredient for an athletes success, In fact when I asked him what his diet looked like he said that “He believes in simplicity and definitely does not do fancy diets “No pre & post workouts” he fuels his body to his requirements and needs this is what helped him personally” I also asked him to give nutrition suggestions for all athletes he said “Athletes should see what type of food suites them , their sport & body requirements and they can use food available in their houses and incorporate that in their diet”, he says. I also mentioned that not all athletes can afford to have nutritionists so a little piece of advice for athletes can be that they can use apps like HealthifyMe and track their daily macros to reach their nutrition goals , they can also go online to take a look at the diets of Elite level athletes from their sport incorporate it in their diets and they can always check out recipes and find foods that are accessible and flexible in their household .

CONCLUSION

So this was a glimpse of what our interview looked like , I hope that this interview would have helped y'all get an insight on Pranab's journey and his thoughts and advice for athletes , I would like to thank Pranab for joining me on this call and doing the interview and giving such give good advice to all the athletes out there !!

Let me know if y’all like my idea of doing interviews and your thoughts on this week’s interview in the comment section below!!