: Mother-Daughter Duo Blaze A Trail Through Indias First All-Women Racing Team #IndiaNEWS #Karnataka Over the last decade, motorsports have gained popularity in India, specifically in Coimbatore, Tamil

Mother-Daughter Duo Blaze A Trail Through Indias First All-Women Racing Team #IndiaNEWS #Karnataka
Over the last decade, motorsports have gained popularity in India, specifically in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, with the city being known as the Motorsports capital of the country. Thrill, speed, focus and adrenaline — these are all aspects that drive the sport. Shivani Pruthvi (23) and Deepti Pruthvi (51), a mother-daughter duo from Devangere in Karnataka, have been chasing this very high. The two have forayed into this predominantly male-dominated arena, and won several races.
Shivani is part of India’s First All-Women Racing Team, and a graduate of MBBS from SDM College of Medical Sciences. Her mother, Deepthi is a practising doctor and a professor at the SS Institute of Medical Science & Research Centre. She is also Shivani’s co-driver and navigator for rally races.
Shivani and Deepthi Pruthvi.
In a conversation with The Better India, the duo explains how and why they got into motorsports.
All work and no play
Shivani says she has been fond of sports since she was a child. At the age of 5, she learnt roller skating and went on to participate and win medals in state-level competitions. As she grew older, she learnt badminton, tennis, and was even part of the girl’s basketball team in high school. “I always enjoyed participating in extracurricular activities more than I did studies. It was a habit I imbibed from my father — BS Pruthvi, who was a rally racer in Bengaluru during the 90s,??? says Shivani.
In 2018, during her second year of MBBS, Shivani was preparing for her semester exams. As there was a large amount of syllabus to be covered, she found herself devoid of time for any extracurricular activities. Instead, she dedicated three whole months before the exams to her education. However, she did not enjoy any part of the process.
“Those were stressful months. The day I finished my last exam for that semester, I went to my father and asked him if he would teach me how to race,??? says Shivani, adding that her father started training her the same day.
Deepthi and Pruthvi agreed that Shivani needed to pursue a sport because she was involved in physical activities from a young age.
Born a racer
To see how Shivani would navigate through curves and uneven terrain at a high speed, Pruthvi took her to his cement-pipe making factory. In the open space surrounding the factory, he asked Shivani to drive his custom-made rally car. He even placed a few bikes in her route, but Shivani dodged and zoomed through them like a professional racer. This, Shivani says, was not the first time she had driven a race car. She says she was in Class IV when she first tried driving a car on a race track.
“Once I stepped out of the car, my father said, ‘If you drive the same way at a competition, you will walk out with the trophy’,??? says Shivani, adding that his words gave her the confidence to enter competitions.

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