I would like people to remember me for what I've achieved. I also want them to remember me as someone who tried to be true to herself. Growing up in the media glare was very difficult. I was 16 years old when for the first time I faced a room full of people asking me questions.
What was I supposed to say? At 16 you're thinking about going to coffee shops, bunking school, meeting boys. Here I was talking about the world. It was difficult, but I tried to be as authentic as possible.
The kind of paths that we had to take were unheard of 20-30 years ago. I had the unequivocal support of my parents, who were before their time. Together we started on this journey, learning as we went along.
We are all put here for a greater reason than just hitting tennis balls or winning tennis matches. If you're able to make a difference in some way, you should do that.
If that means standing up for the right, standing up for the good, what you believe the world needs to get better at, then that's what it is.
Tennis has made me who I am. It's not just in terms of what it made me on the outside, but also what it made me on the inside, the person I am. It has taught me so much, but most of all it made me a fighter.
On a larger scale, it made people see what an Indian woman can do in a global sport like tennis - earn a living, be very successful while doing what you love.
Today, in India especially, our biggest superstars outside of cricket are women, be it badminton, boxing or wrestling. It's the women who have brought more medals in the last couple of Olympics than the men have. It has to do with the fact that they believe they can do it. It's not about hating men, putting down someone. It's about recognizing achievements, underlining victories that can sometimes go under the radar.
What tennis brought to me in the last 20 years is twofold of what I have given it.
I was always clear about the 'what next' question that would inevitably follow my playing career. I've always wanted to help the next generation of Indian athletes believe that they can be champions.
When this Royal Challengers Bangalore mentor opportunity came to me, I thought I've obviously been around cricket a lot in my life by default. I really don't understand it though. The whole concept of me being there has nothing to do with cricket. It has to do with the mental aspect of things with these younger girls.
I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the girls, I got to talk to them, chat with them and there was so much I could relate to and hopefully they can relate to me too. It was very different for me in a lot of ways, but similar in some ways.
It's great because it lets me do something that I want to do. It gets me to do something where I'm able to share my experience in trying to make women's sport better and their stories more accepted and acknowledged in the sub-continent.
When girls choose to do something that's outside of the box, we are often told we should not do it, instead of being encouraged. It was no different for me. It's no different for a lot of young girls, who choose to do things that are not what society expects from a young woman.
I want to tell every little girl out there that you have to back yourself, believe in yourself. If you are not your biggest cheerleader, nobody else is ever going to believe in you. No matter what the odds are, even if nobody has done it before. Whatever path you choose, believe that you can do it.
It is very, very important to have that belief in yourself.
