Sharvari Kulkarni from Aurangabad is one. She saw Nadia on a televised serial and decided to be a gymnast.

Sharvari is in Mumbai for the inter-school competition organised by District Sports Association representing the Aurangabad district team.

Inspired by Nadia's tele-serial, Sharvari joined the Marathwada Sanskruti Mandal (MSS) to acquire the basics of gymnastics at the age of six. Then onwards, she has won three national titles. She is currently the national champion in the under-17 open category.

A member of the Indian school's team which participated in the World School Gymnastic Games in China earlier this year, she finished a highly satisfying 11th overall from a pool of 250 world gymnasts.

The 10th standard student of Saraswati Bhawan School, while reflecting on the display explains: ``The others are better just because they have modernfacilities. Better coaches. Modern equipment. Strong basics. And that's the reason we could not beat them.''

``The mood of the gymnast is very important to achieve his or her best,'' adds Sharvari, who hails from a sports-loving family. Her brother, Rutupurna Kulkarni, is a National-level badminton player.

``Although every sport is a mind game now, gymnastics too starts from the mind and ends with the mind. The stronger you are, the better you can perform,'' opines Sharvari, who enjoys swimming and badminton also.

The bubbly 15-year-old pays full regards to her parents and her school which has exempted her from term examinations to compete here. But she prefers to keep a low profile in her school despite attaining international acclaim.

``I am what I am to my friends. I think my performance makes them happy.''With the ambition to ``win a SAARC gold medal'', she trains everyday for four hours at MSS. The training -- under the watchful eyes of Amruta Zaver -- includes here practicing all the sixroutines, though the horizantal bar remains her pet event.

``Watch out for Tumpa Debnath of Bengal. She is the youngest gymnast to win the open category last year at the Nationals and went on to to win a SAARC gold,'' she said. But she considers city-mate Vrushali Joshi as her toughest competitor.

When asked what goes on in her mind when she is competing at the top-level, she replied, ``just one thing: That I have to put into practice what I have learned all these years. No medal hope. No tension. And believe me, it has been working for me since the last two years.''