She has had a typical defence background as a child. ``I had two older sisters and a younger brother,'' says the lady. ``Ever since I was a child, I wanted to do something, be somebody. I wanted to be a writer, I used to listen to Hava Mahal and loved to sing, there was a time when I wanted to run an orphanage and then somewhere along the line, acting happened.''

``Sridhar Kshirsagar, TV director, was casting for his serial Gulmohor and I got the role. In those days, he was `the' director to work with. We shot in Bangalore and with Tinu Anand, Benjamin Gilani, Mita Vashisht, Shriram Lagoo, Malavika Tiwari -- it was a lovely experience, '' she coos.

And Nadira Babbar's play `Pankh Hote To'? ``She offered me a role and that helped me immensely. I learnt how to bring out what I was playing and how to use body language and my voice effectively.''

She has worked with big names like Vikram Bhatt, Tanuja Chandra, acted with Rahul Roy, Sunjay Dutt... done about 150 ad films and what does she feel about all of this acting experience ? ``Every role is a learning experience,'' she says, ``you learn a lot.''

``For example, Renu the simple housewife I played in Swabhiman who has such a tremendous character graph. She changes as time changes. I like roles which have depth''. In the serial Satya, I play a woman who changes from bad to being good. In Pooja Bhatt's Dhund, I play a rich woman who brings up her kids on her own. In Achanak and in Dushman, I have played a seductress but my scenes in Dushman were cut. She says she was cast as a seductress because the director saw in her a certain aspect which made him choose her for the role. What's coming is a Punjabi comedy serial on the Lishkar channel called `Remote Control' directed by Rajeev Soni starring Deep Dhillon and Gopi Bhalla. Talking about which, Pinky gushes, ``I didn't think I would be able to do comedy but now that I am, I am enjoying it a lot''. She says the new film and serial makers are a really enthusiastic lot and the kind of movies and serials they are churning out is of a very good quality. She says,``I would like to work in the Neena Gupta type ofserials where the woman is depicted in a nice manner.'' And her fans?

``It is very heartening when I meet people who say they have seen a serial because I was in it. It gives me a high and makes me want to do better and not to give up''. Success she says is so transitory, such a relative term, it is there for some but not for others. In her spare time, she loves to listen to music, watch TV, exercise, do riyaz and take long walks.

Message for her fans ? ``Be happy wherever you are and whatever you are doing. And most importantly, take pride in what you are doing. There is always a better tomorrow.''