“I would love to act in a film if it is based on my life. But then it all depends on who is making it and how much time it would require for me to shoot.”

We can’t play if we are ill or not completely fit.

I have no tension. I only play to give my best.

When I started, I didn’t think I would become a great player. It was my passion; I had interest. My parents supported me. In that way, I continued.

Life has changed both on and off the court after the Rio Olympics medal. I have a lot of confidence on the court now and feel anything is possible. I also feel that I have improved my game. Off the court, I do get recognised more now.

Women’s badminton has become so competitive.

I love making friends and make others happy. But I also love to be happy all the time. All that aggression that you see remains on the court only.

Every tournament I have won has been memorable.

Hard work is the key for success.

I have learnt many things, but there’s more to learn. Every day is a new start.

I want to beat everyone I’m playing against.

It is very important to be confident and strong even if you lose, because you know there are tournaments coming up next, and you have to be prepared for it.

What hurts most is whenever I am leading, and then I lose the match, it is disappointing, and there are so many such matches.

It is hard to lose for everybody.

I love dressing up, and I’m aware that people do say that it can take your attention away from the game. But I disagree with this notion!

I was lucky to get good coaches and infrastructure that I needed. To become a champion, it is not just a few months’ practice: it takes years to make a champion.

It takes years of practice to become a World No. 1 or 2.

I have lived my life, and I have fought my battles, not against the weak and the poor – anybody can do that – but against power, against injustice, against oppression, and I have asked no odds from them, and I never shall.

I’m shy. People get confused. They think as an actor you can get up and be confident on the screen. Why aren’t you like this in normal life? Why can’t you act in your social life? ‘Because I can’t!’

My goals for the next part of my life: Whatever I’m handed, I’m gonna make the most of it. If it’s good for me, I’m gonna take it.

An entire lifetime would not be long enough for you to exhaust the glance of the young harvest-girl.

There is something better, if possible, that a man can give than his life. That is his living spirit to a service that is not easy, to resist counsels that are hard to resist, to stand against purposes that are difficult to stand against.

Life is too short, and the time we waste in yawning never can be regained.

Never forget the morals instilled in you and what really matters in Life. Never let other voices of other people drown out your inner voice.

Art is the funnel, as it were, through which spirit is poured into life.