"Defined by no man, you are your own story, Blazing through the world, turning history into HERstory.
And when they dare to tell you about,
All the things you cannot be. You smile and tell them,
I am both war and woman and you cannot stop me." - Nikita Gill
Be it in professional or personal life, celebrating women is a sense of obligation to each and every woman in one's life. International Women's Day is celebrated every year on March 8th. It's the day to praise women who work hard each day to accomplish individual and professional goals. With this, the day also aims to raise awareness about gender equality and promote equal participation in social, economic, cultural, and political activities.
From science to sports, literature to activism, Indian women are everywhere! India has a long history of determined female achievers who marked their presence in various fields through their stellar achievements.
On the occasion of Women's Day, we bring you a quick rundown of the achievements of the women of India who made the whole nation proud.
1. Squadron Leader Avani Chaturvedi :
In January of 2023, squadron leader Avani Chaturvedi was declared the first woman combat pilot in the Indian Air Force, alongside Mohana Singh Jitarwala and Bhavana Kanth.
2. Tulsi Gowda :
Also known as the "encyclopedia of the forest, Tulasi Gowda was honored by being awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions and efforts to protect forest cover. This 72-year-old, hailing from the Halakki Vokkalu tribal community of Karnataka, has planted over 30,000 saplings and has the unique ability to recognize a plant just by touching it. She never attended school and was married off at the age of 12.
3. Falguni Nayyar :
By quitting a 20-year-long career in investment banking and starting a beauty startup from scratch at the age of 50, Falguni Nayar became one of the most successful women of the year. Founder of Nykaa, she is now India's biggest self-made female billionaire as shares of the firm surged to a whopping 89 percent in the last quarter of 2021. She owns half of the company, which is worth $6.5 billion.
4. Hima Das :
By winning a gold medal in a track event at the IAAF World U20 Championship, Hima Das became the first Indian woman athlete to do so.
5. Chef Garima Arora :
Chef Garima Arora became the first Indian female chef to be conferred a Michelin star in November 2018. Currently, she has been conferred with 4 Michelin stars, and in February 2019, she was named Asia's Best Female Chef
for the Year by the World's 50 Best Restaurants.
6. Kirthi Karanth :
A Chief Conservation Scientist at the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Krithi Karanth is the first Indian and Asian woman to win the 2021 WILD Innovator Award. It is given by a foundation called Wild Elements that advocates disrupting the status quo and identifying solutions to global sustainability and conservation. A leading conservation scientist in India, Krithi has great expertise in the field of wildlife conservation. This Mangaluru native was also a recipient of the 2019 Women of Discovery Award by WINGS Worldquest.
7. Deepa Malik :
Deepa Malik became the first Indian woman ever to win a medal at the Paralympic Games. She has won a silver medal in the shot put F53 category with a lifetime personal best performance of 4.61 meters. 8. Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone was announced as their global ambassador for Louis Vuitton in May, and she also became the ambassador for Cartier in October 2022. She is the first Indian to be appointed as the brand ambassador for
Louis Vuitton.
9. Tessy Thomas :
Tessy Thomas is the first woman to be a proud head of an Indian missile project. Adding to it, with the successful launch of the Agni-V missile project, she also achieved a career milestone.
10. Harnaaz Sandhu :
Harnaaz Sandhu is not only the girl who brought the Miss Universe crown to India after a long gap of 21 years but also someone who came over years of body shaming due to her thin figure. Hailing from Chandigarh, Harnaaz also advocates normalizing mental health issues. India is blessed to have such female achievers who went against all the odds in different professions and accomplished themselves. So here's to all the strong women out there. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.
Happy women's day!
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