I am the youngest among four siblings. I have three elder sisters who lorded over me most of the time. They would treat me differently at different times of the day. It was quite strange — by day they’d bully me as much as they could, but at night, they would mollycoddle me.

I was very shy as a child. I remember my teacher would write ‘‘reticent’’ on my report card. Then, I didn’t even know what it meant. They couldn’t understand why I wasn’t naughty. But once I went for a school trip and after that I went berserk and became very naughty. I still don’t know what brought about the change.

In school I was good in singing and dramatics and wrote reasonably well. I still write monographs, poems and other pieces. I always knew that I was intelligent and that my report card didn’t reflect my abilities. I was never the kind of person who would pore over books and study late into the night. I loved history very much, which was surprising because everybody else hated it. I loved seeing the sketches of kings and queens and imagining how they must have been. I was fascinated by what had happened hundreds of years ago.

I think I had the greatest fun in school. I really enjoyed my schooldays. I was naughty but not so naughty that I would get punished. I would get into trouble but, at the same time, would get out of it very soon, too.