These 10 Indian women are relatively less known yet have worked really hard in their fields. They pave the way for the women of tomorrow.
1. Bhakti Sharma: Bhakti is the youngest and the first Asian woman to create a swimming record in the waters of the Antarctic. She swam 2.4 kilometers in 41.4 minutes in frigid waters as cold as 1-degree Celsius. She is 28 years old and belongs to the city of Udaipur. The most inspiring thing about is her is that her coach since the age of 2 years has been her own mother.
2. Arunima Sinha: Arunima is the first Indian amputee to climb the Mount Everest. She was a national volleyball player but in 2011 she was pushed from a running train thus injuring herself. As a result, one of her legs was amputated below the knee. Her dream was to climb all the continents highest peaks and hoist the Tricolour. She has already climbed Everest in Asia, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe, Kosciuszko in Australia, Aconcagua in Argentina and Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia.
3. Hemalatha Annamalai: Hemalatha belongs to the city of Coimbatore and is a female entrepreneur. She started a company called Ampere Electric. The company was set up to bring affordable transportation alternatives through battery-operated cycles and scooters for rural and semi-urban markets.
4. Neha Arora: Neha is the founder of Planet Abled. It was conceived in 2016 after she realized that differently abled people found it difficult to travel around India. With tour packages that include special portable ramps, Neha has successfully conducted 17-day tours that spread across two countries, 5 states and 13 cities. Her venture employs dedicated moderators and tour guides who help the differently abled pursue their dream of travelling without any barriers.
5. Lakshmi Menon: In 2012, Lakshmi founded Pure Living (Products Upcycled Recycled and Economised) which offers an eco-friendly alternative to plastic pens and wooden pencils that grow into trees when they are disposed of. The venture has helped empower the elderly and differently abled women in the region and uses up-cycled paper waste from printing presses to manufacture the pens.
6. Dr. Aditi Pant: Dr. Aditi is an oceanographer and was the first Indian to visit the icy continent Antarctica in the year 1983. She had a vital role and responsibility in the third Indian expedition to Antarctica. She, along with her team members, was awarded for their notable contribution to the project.
7. Manabi Bandyopadhyay: Manabi is an academician who underwent a male to female sex change operation in 2003 and became the first transgender in India to head a college. She was appointed the principal of Krishnagar Women’s college. This happened nearly a year after the supreme court officially recognised the long marginalised transgender community as the third gender.
8. Chayaa Nanjappa: Chayaa was awarded the National Best Entrepreneur Award’ in food processing by the Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs of India in 2014. Mysuru’s Chaya spearheaded a rural enterprise which sources high-quality honey that is bought by people from as far as Europe and the States. Today, Nectar Fresh produces monofloral honey and is one of the largest bulk suppliers and producers of honey.
9. Thinlas Chorol: Thinlas is the only Ladakhi woman to be trained to work in the mountaineering field. Thinlas founded the Ladakhi Women’s Travel Company in 2009 with the idea of encouraging more women to take up travelling and mountaineering, besides providing tourism in Ladakh. The company is Ladakh’s first travel company owned completely by women.
10. Tania Sachdev: Tania is a beauty with brains. She was associated with a non-glamorous sport, Chess. She has won titles like Women’s Grandmaster in 2005 an International Master in 2008.She has also received the Arjuna award.
Edited by Priyanka Shankar
Images curated by Viraj Malani