Being a woman today, in the 21st century, maybe easy, but it wasn’t always that way. There was a time when the term ‘ feminism’ or’ women empowerment’ was not even coined. There was a time when women were struggling to break the so-called’ norms’ of society to become who they really were born to be. We’re putting together a list of inspiring Indian women who emerged from the pages of our history books to become the inspiration for our lives.
Inspiring Indian Women
Here is a list of inspiring Indian women who become the inspiration for our lives.
1. Maharani Gayatri Devi
Gayatri Devi is a legend that will live on forever. The most stylish royal woman in the world, who kept insisting that she was ordinary. Gayatri Devi was born in London on May 23, 1919, one of India’s most elegant independent and modern Maharanis.
Gayatri Devi went so far beyond the traditional boundaries that in 1962 she won an Indian Parliament seat. In the world’s largest majority of votes, she captured the constituency in the Lok Sabha, securing 192,909 votes out of 246,516 casts, as recorded by the Guinness Book of Records.
The life she led symbolized, as a rebellious thoughtful and strong person. Although she was born into a life of privilege, she stood up for the downtrodden and made a difference in her own little ways.
Rajmata has been an inspiring icon of beauty, grace, and defiance for generations to come.
2. Laxmi Agarwal
Laxmi Agarwal is an Indian activist for Stop Acid Attacks and a television host. She is a survivor of an acid attack and campaigns for the interests of victims of an acid attack. A 32-year-old man, whose advances she had refused, attacked her at the age of 15 in 2005. Her story, among others, was told in a series about the victims of acid attacks by the Hindustan Times. She also campaigned against acid attacks by gathering 27,000 signatures for a petition to ban acid sales and taking the case to the Supreme Court of India.
Her petition prompted the Supreme Court to order central and state governments to control acid sales and to make it easier for Parliament to prosecute acid attacks. She is the Chhanv Foundation’s director, an NGO dedicated to helping India’s acid attack victims. U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama won a 2014 International Women of Courage award. She was also picked as the Year’s NDTV Indian. She is also the face of Viva and Diva, urging every girl to focus on their inner beauty rather than on their outer appearance.
3. Sudha Murty
Sudha Murty’s life took remarkable turns against all odds, with an ordinary childhood like most of us because of her courage and determination and ability to succeed in life.
She is in herself a renowned figure, she does not need an introduction. She is one of the humblest and most well-read people you’ll ever meet. Mr. N.R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys ‘ co-founder, is really a lucky man to have a person like his wife.
Mrs. Murthy became the first female engineer to employ TELCO (Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company), India’s largest car maker, now Tata motors. She worked in various locations such as Pune, Mumbai, and Jamshedpur. She raised the issue of the company’s men-only’ gender bias concerns. The TELCO’s chairman acknowledged her problem and called for a special interview with her.
She’s aimed at empowering women. She spreads rural education awareness, public hygiene, alleviation of poverty, and much more. Also, she imbibes the need to keep India clean, thus building public toilets. She was also passionate about helping people in areas affected by floods.
4. Anandibai Joshi
Anandibai Joshi was one of the first physicians from South Asia and the first female Indian physician to be trained in the Western medicine tradition. She was the first Indian-born female to study and graduate in the United States with a degree in medicine. It is also believed to be the first Hindu woman to set foot on American soil.
Indian women in the 17th century felt really uncomfortable with gynecological services provided by male physicians. In her application letter, Joshi wanted to give the poor suffering country women the true medical assistance they so badly needed and would rather die than be accepted by a male physician.
Joshi died young, but the lady was for Indian women the first ray of hope for change and is still inspiring us today.
5. Kalpana Chawla
Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian woman in space and an Indian astronaut. She first flew in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator on Space Shuttle Columbia.
In 2003, Chawla was killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia crash as one of the seven crew members. For many people in India and around the world, Kalpana is an inspiration. Her hard work had made her life, and her only motive. She was different from other people, she just wanted to be an astronaut.
Her family was against her when she was going to leave for the United States, but she had her own ideas and intentions. We need to learn a lot from Kalpana Chawla, who achieved her dream with a lot of hard work and hardship compared to other ordinary people.
If these inspiring Indian women inspired you, then you certainly need to look at these successful women who broke the social chains to become pioneers in their fields. And these women entrepreneurs who made their own mark.
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