Recent ‘Women First’ achievements, which were not even done by men before!

“There is no occasion for women to consider themselves subordinate or inferior to man.”, said Mahatma Gandhi decades ago, and over the years these words have been proven to right umpteen number of times. Women continue to not only perform tasks that once were reserved for men but are achieving what even men have not done before. So, here are few such inspiring achievements of Indian women, which are sure to make you proud and motivate you to conquer new frontiers.

1. Gurleen Chawla, ‘Strawberry Girl of Jhansi’ and Founder of Jhansi Organics

Until recently no one could relate the parched land of Bundelkhand of Uttar Pradesh with Strawberry. But that has changed now due to the efforts of one girl, Gurleen Chawla. A law graduate from Pune, moved to Jhansi to be with her parents during the pandemic, took interest in terrace gardening with her parents. As she could not find quality Strawberries in Jhansi, she decided to grow them on her terrace garden and did it successfully.

Later she took it to her father’s 1.5-acre farm and it bore rich fruits. She did not stop there. She approached the district administration with a plan to conduct the ‘Strawberry Festival’ to promote her brand and to popularise Strawberry cultivation amongst the farming community. To her surprise, the district collector scaled it to the next level by inviting UP CM Yogi Adityanath to inaugurate the event, and the festival got a huge response. Her efforts got further steam when she was mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Man Ki Baat program on 14^th February. Gurleen’s success by growing strawberries has now motivated many other farmers to take up the same in the water-scarce Bundelkhand and experts believe that this will help many distraught farmers in earning their livelihood.

What has surprised everyone is the fact that neither Gurleen Chawla had any exposure to agriculture before this, nor did Bundelkhand had any appetite for growing strawberries!

2. Tribal Women Who Became Rice Mill Owners from being Workers there

COVID-19 forced a rice mill to close in Chichgaon in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. All the tribal women who were working there lost their jobs. They got to know that the owner of the mill is looking to sell the machinery as well.

Even though none of these tribal women had capital, all of them formed a self-help group and contributed their savings toward the fund to buy the mill along with the machinery. Whatever amount of money was short, was sourced under the aegis of Ajivika mission in the form of a loan from the bank.

Within the same period, the mill has earned a profit of INR 3 lakh as well. This is truly a story of women empowerment, courage and not getting crumbled under the pressure.

3. Air India’s All Women Cockpit Crew Creates History by flying longest route over the North Pole

Bengaluru and San Francisco are known as the silicon valleys of the World and are present diametrically opposite to each other, with a distance of 16,000 kilometers. When Air India was planning its inaugural non-stop flight between two tech cities, that too on a new route, it chose all women pilots to complete this task. The flight reached Bengaluru on 11^th Jan 2021, after a non-stop 17-hour journey. This new route saved about 10 tonnes of fuel and was led by Captain Zoya Aggarwal.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri tweeted saying, “Air India’s woman power flies high around the world, our Nari Shakti achieves a historic first.”

4. Manjamma Jogati, the only trans woman to win the Padma Shri award in 2021.

Manjamma Jogati’s challenges began with her birth after being named with a boy name Manjunath Shetty. She grew up in extreme poverty, battled social discrimination, survived rape, and faced separation from family, as they disowned her.

But Manjamma’s interest in Jogati Nritya (one form of rural folk dance) and Janapada songs opened a different world of opportunities for her. She did not only master the Jogati Nritya, but she also went on to teach many others and became the first transwoman President of the Karnataka Janapada Academy.

On being conferred India’s fourth-highest civil honor Padma Shri, she tweeted, “Human is human; there are no lesser human beings. Art is Art; there are no lesser Art/Artists…For many like me – Art itself is Life!”

5. Dr. Swati Mohan, the Indian American scientist who played a pivotal role in landing NASA’sPerseverance’ on Mars

“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking signs of past life,” a Woman’s voice announced in NASA’s control room on 18^th February 2021, prompting her colleagues at NASA to break into a celebration. Dr. Swati Mohan was that voice confirming the successful landing of NASA’s ambitious Perseverance Rover on Mars surface and she leads the guidance, navigation, and control operations of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission.

Perseverance’s safe touchdown has kicked off a new era of exploration on the red planet, in which rocks will be collected and returned to Earth for the first time. In her role as flight controller, Mohan played a pivotal role in the landing of the historic craft.

6. Captain Preeti Choudhary, Indian Army’s Only Woman Contingent Commander, Who Led R-Day Parade 2021

During India’s Republic Day Parade on 26^th January, when heavy artillery tanks were marching on Rajpath, it was a Woman commandant who was atop one of them and saluting the President of India. Captain Preeti Choudhary was the only woman contingent commander in the Indian Army during the 2021 Republic Day Parade.

Speaking after the parade, Captain Preeti asserted that she received the opportunity because the upgraded weapon system belonged to her regiment, not because of her gender.

She had last marched the Republic Day parade along Rajpath in 2016 as a cadet with the National Cadet Corps. She is also the recipient of the Sword of Honour for being an all-around cadet at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai. In her ancestral village of Binjhol in Panipat, there is a stone tablet bearing names of those who have brought honor to the village. Captain Preeti is the only woman on that list.

To know more about such amazing and inspiring women, click here

SpeakIn

See author's posts