[5] Arati Gupta was born in Kolkata, India, as the second of three children and the first of two daughters to Panchugopal Saha in 1940.

At the 1951 West Bengal state competition, she clocked 1 minute, 37.6 seconds in 100 metre breaststroke and broke Dolly Nazir's all-India record.

[8] Greta Andersen, a Danish-born swimmer representing the United States, clocked 11 hours and 1 minute, setting the fastest time for both men and women.

She recommended Arati's name to the organizers of the Butlin International Cross Channel Swimming Race for the next year's event.

[9] Dr. Arun Gupta, the assistant executive secretary of Hatkhola Swimming Club, helped to organise Arati's participation at the event.

He arranged exhibitions showcasing Arati's swimming progress as part of a fundraising program.

Jamininath Das, Gour Mukherjee and Parimal Saha also contributed to organizing Arati's trip.

At this point, Sambhunath Mukherjee and Ajay Ghoshal approached Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, who arranged a grant of ₹11,000.

[citation needed] On 13 April 1959, Arati swam continuously for eight hours in the pond located in Deshbandhu Park.

During this time, she was mentored by Dr. Bimal Chandra, who was also participating in the 1959 Butlin International Cross-Channel Swimming Race.

The race was scheduled for 27 August 1959 at 1 am local time from Cape Gris Nez, France to Sandgate, England.

Starting from Cape Gris Nez, France, she swam for 16 hours and 20 minutes and covered 42 miles to reach Sandgate, England.