APOORVA MOHAN- Indian Gamer

Age: 21 Location: Delhi Game: Callofduty (cod) Online gamer name: Iron Babe

Gaming is in her blood. Her dad games, as does her little sister. For Apoorva Mohan, it started with Mario, Contra and Bomberman, when she was three years old. As a teenager, it was Virtual Cop, Motorcross madness, Duke

Nukem and everything else she could get her hands on – including the X-rated ones. Now, it’s Callofduty4: modernwar

fare. Iron Babe is a girl who plays a First Person Shooter. And that by itself, ask any boy, is impressive. “I always preferred shooting games. And COD makes you feel like you’re actually fighting a war for your country. I come home from work at 8 and game all night, and all weekend,” says Apoorva.

She makes about R20,000 a year, and some more in goodies. But her clan, Evox, is doing well and the future looks bright. Besides, she works as a fulltime graphic designer, so money isn’t an issue. “Gaming is like my second life, so I don’t go out much.”

There are barely any female gamers in the circuit. And the boys like it that way. “It’s hard because people don’t take me seriously. It’s the Indian male mentality, many say it directly: gaming is not for girls,” says Apoorva. “It’s so much fun to beat a guy, especially an Indian guy. They go into shock.”

But Apoorva’s very clear about one thing: she’s not one of the guys. She likes pink, and she cried when Captain Price, a major character in Call of duty 4, died at the end of the game. She’s here to play, and she’s good at it.