I was born in Kumbakonam. My father, a government employee, was transferred and posted to Bikaner in Rajasthan when I was still very young. I spent nearly 13 years of my early life in Bikaner.

   I had a very healthy and a happy childhood. I was a tomboy; I enjoyed outdoor-sports and learnt swimming and skating. I also learnt Kathak for about seven years. It was a fun-filled life till the day I met with the accident: May 26, 2002. I was just13 years old.

The accident

  Some months before the accident, an ammunition depot had caught fire in the city and hand grenades and other bits and pieces were scattered all over the city. One such piece landed in our neighbourhood.

   We were told that it was a diffused grenade. I was trying to stick something on my jeans pocket, and I wanted something heavy to hammer it with. I just took this grenade and hit it. With the first hit, the shell exploded in my....