In the 'cruellest month' of April, it is time for Swapna Barman to take a few tough decisions, standing as she is at the crossroads of her career.

The last few months have not been good for the heptathlete. She failed to defend the gold she won at the Jakarta Asian Games. She has been struggling with a spine injury for many months. The final blow came when her political ambitions hit a roadblock.

"Yes, I was promised a ticket for these elections (and no, I will not disclose the name of the party). I had mentally geared up accordingly. So much so that I was all set to retire from sports and plunge full-time into politics," Swapna told The Telegraph from her home near Jalpaiguri.

"However," continued Swapna, "at the last minute, I was dropped like a sack of hot potatoes.

"Sure the party has the right to deny a ticket to someone it does not deem fit. But is it too much to expect an intimation from the people who have been leading me on to believe I would get a chance to serve my people?"

She suffered a mental setback following the denial and is still struggling to come to terms with it.

Swapna had clinched a silver at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok in July, making it a hat-trick of medals at the prestigious meet. This made her believe that her defence of the Asian Games gold was possible.

But not only did she not finish on the podium — she finished fourth, behind compatriot Nandini Agsara — this disappointment was followed by a much-avoidable controversy.

Swapna had, after the Games, taken to X and alleged that she lost the bronze medal to a 'transgender athlete', sending shockwaves across India's athletic spectrum.

Within days, Swapna had offered an unconditional apology, saying it was an emotional outburst after she missed out on a medal at the Asian Games.

To a depressed Swapna, the opportunity to join politics with the promise of a ticket seemed god-sent and she jumped at it.

"I stopped practising at Sports Authority of India (Calcutta). In fact, I have not donned my practice shoes for even a day since I returned from the Asian Games. And this is what I get."

From here, what next?

"I intend to return to heptathlon," said the 27-year-old, "I still have a few years of the sport left in me. And injury? That is a part and parcel of every athlete's life. I, like all athletes, can overcome it."

Pain and Swapna have been synonymous. She had won the Asian Games gold in Jakarta fighting an excruciating toothache and she had clinched a gold at the 2022 Federation Cup tested by a severe bout of food poisoning. Born with six toes and never able to find a comfortable shoe growing up, she's been fighting adversities all her life. And overcoming them too.

Swapna is now ready to reinvent herself. If she devotes her dedication solely to sport again and works hard, no one can deny her the ticket to success.