Addressing a public lecture, the 42-year-old astronaut, who spent a record 195 days on-board the International Space Nation, said her life was not at all perfect but she did things with dedication.

"You have to look at things in a different way. My life was not at all perfect, it had a lot of ups and downs," Sunita said as she fielded questions from the young and the old alike at the India Habitat Centre on Wednesday evening.

School children and representatives of NGOs rushed towards the stage to hand over mementos to Sunita before shooting questions at her.

"What should we do to become an astronaut," asked a 10-year-old girl in broken English.

"Study a lot of maths and science. Of course, English is important but you will not have a problem. Take care of your health. Do not take it for granted," was the astronaut's reply.

"98 per cent of tests you have to qualify to become an astronaut are of medical in nature. Only two per cent are interviews," Sunita said to the startled kid.