Happy Independence Day! The Indian Army stands at the border while we are celebrating the Independence Day, watching the parade and PM Modi’s speech on our Televisions.

Dr. Seema Rao, India’s first female Commando trainer, meanwhile, is doing us proud! I spoke to her, and couldn’t believe how calm, and composed she seemed! Oh, but she sounded extremely disciplined. Of course!

Dr. Seema Rao is not only a commando trainer; she’s an author, a scuba diver, a model, one of the very few people in the world who is authorized to teach Jeet Kune Do, the Martial Arts developed by Bruce Lee.

Me: Tell us one story your father shared with you about the ‘freedom struggle.’ 

Dr. Seema Rao: My father often narrated those stories. One story that impressed me the most as a little child was when he escaped from jail and swam across the Mandovi River in Goa along with another fellow freedom fighter.

Me: Have you ever been told: “This is a man’s job”? How did you reply?

Dr. Seema Rao: No. To start with, I never thought it’s a man’s job. Men and women are equally equipped in taking on any physical or mental challenge. The block in our minds has to be broken.

Me: How does it feel to be the first woman commando trainer of India? How can we bring more women into the field?

Dr. Seema Rao: To be in a man’s world, a woman needs to be ready to shed blood, sweat and tears, not tears of helplessness but tears of triumph. You need to give it all of you. Not to just believe in yourself but to believe that the impossible is possible, you just need to do it the right way. I didn’t plan my life to be India’s first woman commando trainer. I just took up seemingly challenging things on my path and reached here.

Me:  Are your students always disciplined? Tell us about some mischief they make during the training.

Dr. Seema Rao: Discipline is a mandatory part of any rigorous training. Discipline ensures the perfect order of conduction of training. Since I lead by personal example, the respect is earned. And if discipline is broken by a participant, I have asked him to leave or adhere to the discipline. That does the job, and a command is established.

Me: Tell us about one self-limitation you’ve overcome.

Dr. Seema Rao: I had a vertebral fracture during a fall while the training was still going on. I was out of action and bedridden for almost four months. But I carefully healed and rehabilitated my back, today I can do everything despite the injury.

Me: How do you maintain a strict discipline in your life? Do you let yourself easy on some days?

Dr. Seema Rao: For my personal training and dietary habits, I try to maintain discipline. It’s hard sometimes because I’m away from home but most of the times I do find alternative solutions to still somewhat adhere to the discipline.

Me: What are some tips that you would give to women in India to self-defend against an approaching threat?

Dr. Seema Rao: Awareness is the answer to avoid trouble. Like the adage “prevention is better than cure”. But if a woman is trained in a self-defence art, then she stands a better chance of survival. Running is the queen of exercises. A woman should train herself to be able to run at least 2kms daily to run away from trouble if she faces it.

Me: What is the one stereotype you have broken by participating in the Mrs. India World Beauty Pageant?

Dr. Seema Rao: I refused to colour the few grey streaks in my hair. I believe in natural beauty. For me, beauty is about being strong and confident the way you are. Each of us has been endowed with his/her own positives.

Me: Tell us about your daily training regime.

Dr. Seema Rao: I run twice a week. I do weight training exercises in a gym, and I spar with men using mixed martial arts and kickboxing.

Me: Who is usually the winner in the husband v/s wife bittersweet fight?

Dr. Seema Rao: The winner is the one who is objective, whoever it may be. And we both adhere to the decision whoever it may have been in favour of!

Me:  What is your mantra of juggling your multi-faceted career with your personal life?

Dr. Seema Rao: Life has many colours. Approach it with cautious boldness. We live only once. But all said and done; you have to staunchly follow your basic path.

Me: What is one career that you still want to explore?

Dr. Seema Rao: Haven’t thought of that yet. Maybe expressing myself through art paintings

Me: Beyond your career, what is one achievement you want to share with everyone?

Dr. Seema Rao: I recently made a movie on women empowerment. It’s the first MMA (mixed martial arts) movie in India. I did the story, direction, camera, music – all of it.

Me:  What is your idea of a romantic date?

Dr. Seema Rao: Sitting under star studded sky and talking my heart out.

Me: What’s one question you want us to ask? Please answer it, too.

Dr. Seema Rao: Why did I decide to not have my biological child and instead decided to adopt one?

My field of work needs physical fitness of the highest standards, and so I decided against bearing my own child. To complete the family, I decided to adopt a girl.

Me:  What’s one thing that makes you feel vulnerable?

Dr. Seema Rao: Age has its way of seeping into life. To not be able to perform most of my abilities without physical limitations, that’s a feeling that makes me feel vulnerable.