I am Lakshmi Devi from Manipur. I started rowing in 2009 and back then my main target was to get a job. I never thought I would come this far. After one or two years of training, I felt I could represent India. We could earn more respect and recognition for our country. I kept training and in 2011, I went on to represent India at the Asian and World Championships. I joined the national camp in Hyderabad and continued there till the 2014 Asian Games. I also participated in the World Championships. The culture of rowing is still very limited in Manipur. My father, who is a fisherman, used to catch fish in the lake and people living around depended on it for their livelihood. It was during the 1999 National Games, we learnt about the sport. There was a girl named Wahida Rehman, an athlete who had learned basic boat handling just a month before the Games, and she finished fourth. Immediately after the games, a club named Loktak was formed. Learning without …