Arati, a national lawn tennis player, was born into a sports family, and she has grown into one of the leading ambassadors of sports in India. P.C. Ponnappa, her father, is a silver medal winner in 4 X 400 m relay and her mother, Nirmala Uthaiah, has held the national titles in 100, 200 and 400 m as well as the national record for 100 m for over a decade. In the past, Arati co-owned and managed Natekar Sports, a chain of sports stores for 16 years before selling it to focus on advisory and consulting business at NSF. She is the key driver and mentor of ‘Second Innings’, a unique and first of its kind partnership program with Pine Labs that is enabling ex sportspersons from India to get jobs in the tech sector. She is a co-promoter strategic advisor and Mahika, an online learning and placement platform focused on women. Coach and mentor for hundreds of promising child sportspersons, travelling coach and mentor to the Indian junior tennis team at Wimbledon, Les Petit Ans in France, Nike Juniors in London and the junior Fed Cup team, Arati has been responsible for nurturing budding sportspersons at all levels. Arati is also the co-founder of the WPBL which commenced its inaugural season from the 25th of January to the 2nd of February 2025 inside the iconic Brabourne Stadium, CCI.