I grew up a very naughty and restless child. So, to channelise my energies my parents involved me in various activities like art, singing and sports. My favourite was playing outdoors.

A club near our house held table tennis classes regularly. And though I was a badminton fan I took up table tennis as there were no facilities to play badminton. Everyone was surprised at how well I took to the sport. As an eight-year-old, I played with children much older than me.

My big moment came in 1996 when I became the Junior National Champion. This gave me the chance to attend a training camp that was held for the World Championship in Manchester in 1997. I performed well at the camp and was selected for the India team. I was 13 and was proud to represent my country. But the dates clashed with my final exams. However, my school was very supportive and arranged for me to take the exams later. My parents too have been a huge support.

Another exhilarating experience was the 2000 Sydney Olympics where I was the youngest Indian Olympian. Apart from these, my biggest achievement has been bagging the National Champion title six times the last being in 2010.

The going’s been great over the last two years. The 2010 Commonwealth Games in India proved to be an extremely successful event for the Indian women’s table tennis team of which I was a part. Winning the team silver medal was an experience I’ll never forget.

On the personal front, I got engaged to table tennis player Soumyadeep Roy and he’s made a huge difference to my life and my game.

I’ve recently had surgery on my right knee and am off practice for a while now. But god willing I’ll overcome this and start playing again soon.

(As told to Amrita Mukherjee)