Mum's the word for Aparna

She was the original undisputed queen of Indian badminton - two time Olympian, nine time National champ and Arjuna Award winner Aparna Popat was the top ranked player in the country even when she hung up her racket in 2006 after a glorious career spanning 17 years. She's back in the hurly burly of competitive sports again as the coach of the Indian Badminton League franchise Mumbai Masters, but all through her professional life Aparna has rarely - make that never- spoken about personal matters in any interview.

Which is why only her family and closest personal friends know that she's expecting her first child sometime in the first week of April. Her equally media shy husband, Rajeev Ved, is a management consultant currently based out of Bangalore. We hear that Rajeev relocated to India in 2010 after spending 20 years in America and the two first met on a blind date set up by their common friends. "We immediately liked each other and got married in March 2011," the glowing mother-to-be told this diarist.

We're guessing it's a case of opposites attract, because while her husband's favourite exercise seems to be number crunching, Aparna's regular fitness regime seems to have barely slackened despite her pregnancy - which is why she's expecting to be up and about sooner than most. Our heartiest congratulations to the parents-to-be.