Deepika Padukone on her youth as a badminton champion in school: ‘no TV, no movies’

Deepika Padukone recently recalled some of her fondest memories from back when she was just a child. All from playing badminton, to getting away with mischievous antics under the coat tails of her father.

Taking a trip down memory lane, the actress recalled her time in school and revealed how her teachers’ love for her father would get her out of punishments.

Deepika went on to tell Hindustan Times about how her teachers would often admit, “We would have punished you but we are big fans of your father.”

Throughout her early youth, the star kid dedicated all of her free time to badminton. Recalling the strict schedule, during a feature for Nat Geo’s Mega Icons, the actress went on to say, “The routine was to wake up every morning like 4-5am, go for physical conditioning, go back home, go to school.”

“As soon as I would finish school, there was no time to chitchat with friends so I would get home, change, have a snack, go to the badminton court, have dinner, be exhausted by that point and go to sleep and then the same thing again.”

She also added, “That was my life: No late nights, no TV, no movies. Sport teaches you sacrifice, discipline, dedication and determination.”

However, she left it all behind at the age of 16 when she traveled out to Copenhagen by herself as she said, “When I came back, that was it.” It was there that she went onto try her hand at modeling. Even her father believed, “Badminton was her second love, not first love.”