She could have been an IAS officer; she even wrote the exam. But an interview with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) happened. She got through and was asked to join immediately. Today, she is hailed as the ‘Missile Woman of India’ and ‘Agniputri ‘(one born of fire) after the deadly projectiles she has helped develop.

The first woman to head an Indian missile project, Tessy Thomas has decisively broken the glass ceiling to make her mark in a traditionally male bastion. Having stood out ever since she joined the DRDO in 1988, she has played a pivotal role in India’s missile development programme, particularly in the making of its long-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile, the Agni-V.

Here’s the story of Dr Tessy Thomas, a woman who successfully walked the tightrope as a scientist and a homemaker to achieve what few Indian women have.

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Born in Kerala’s beautiful Allapuzha district to an IFS officer father and homemaker mother, Tessy’s first introduction to the amazing world of missiles came in her childhood, thanks to the Thumba rocket launching station that was not far from the area where her family lived. This exposure sparked her imagination and a passion for scientific research that would only grow stronger with time.

Carefully nurtured by her mother, Tessy’s interest in solid state physics took shape during her school days. After completing her engineering from Thrissur college, Tessy (named after Mother Teresa) chose to do what she had always dreamt of doing — pursue research in the field of missile technology.

At the age of 20, she joined Pune’s Institute of Armament Technology to pursue a masters degree in guided missile technology. It was there the budding scientist met her future husband, Saroj Kumar Patel, now a commodore in the Indian Navy.

Tessy followed this up with an MBA in Operations Management and a PhD in Missile Guidance before joining DRDO in 1988. Here, she worked under her revered role model, APJ Abdul Kalam, who placed her in the Agni missile programme. And there has been no looking back for her ever since.

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Unwaveringly focused and extremely hardworking, Tessy was soon blazing a trail in DRDO’s weapons programme. And in a little more than two decades, she had reached a career milestone that would go on to be one of the most cherished moments of her life — the successful launch of the Agni-V missile from Odisha’s Wheeler Island in 2012.

An expert on solid propellant systems, Tessy’s contributions were crucial in developing the Agni-V’s multiple targetable re-entry vehicle. This was what helped the intercontinental ballistic missile withstand tremendous velocity and temperature of 3,000 degrees Celsius on re-entering the atmosphere.

Not that the journey to Agni-V’s thundering success was an easy one. At every step, Tess was greeted by failures and disappointments but she took it as an opportunity to rethink, rework and improve the current model.

For instance, in July 2006, a missile failed to meet desired parameters and the team had to face a lot of criticism. But stoic and steely-nerved Tessy took it as a challenge, working 12 to 16 hours a day, even on weekends. Unsurprisingly, within just ten months, the faults were efficiently ironed out to turn the failure into another success.

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All this while Tessy tried her best to walk the tight-rope as a homemaker and a defence scientist. Immensely dedicated to her work, she never hesitated to make sacrifices on the home front, at times even leaving her unwell son Tejas behind for a missile launch.

In a glowing tribute in 2008, The Indian Woman Scientist’s Association said,

“We feel Tessy Thomas serves as a role model and an inspiration for women scientists to achieve their dreams and have their feet planted in both worlds successfully.”

In several interviews, she has thanked her parents, in-laws, husband and son for their unconditional support and encouragement, be it in her inter-religious marriage or her missile research. And yes, her son Tejas shares his name with India’s first homegrown Light Combat Aircraft (also developed by DRDO). Actually, its an anagram of his mother and father’s names!

Today, Tessy is one of India’s leading experts in ballistic missiles. The recipient of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from five different Universities, this brilliant woman is also a fellow of various professional institutes — Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Institution of Engineers-India (IEI), Tata Administrative Service (TAS).

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Tessy has also received several prestigious awards — including the DRDO Scientist of the year in 2008, DRDO Performance Excellence Award for 2011 and 2012, India Today Women of the year in 2009, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2012, CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2012, Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya Award in 2016 and Outstanding Woman Achiever Award by Women in Science and Engineering (WISE).

Recently, after NITI Aayog’s tweet about Tessy’s speech at Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2017) went viral, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said,

“Tessy deserves to be more famous than the biggest Bollywood star. A poster of Tessy in every Indian school will wreck stereotypes and create enormous career aspirations for girls.”

We completely agree.

Also Read: A Starry-Eyed Girl Called ‘Monto’ – The Untold Story of Kalpana Chawla’s Childhood in India

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“Dream big and be courageous to do something about it – For when you give a woman wings, the whole flock flies,” said Audrey Maben and Amy Mehta. They are a dynamic duo who want the world to be more attentive towards women empowerment and they are taking to the cockpit to make it happen.

Audrey and her 19-year-old daughter Amy are embarking upon a 50,000-km journey that covers 25 countries, in just 80 days. Their chariot will be a specially designed microlight plane called ‘Mahi’ and will be piloted by Maben, as they attempt a world record.

The expedition, supported by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, is called ‘WE! Women Empower’ and this is their way of crowdfunding a scholarship named ‘WE! Udaan Scholarship’. The scholarship fund helps underprivileged hobby pilots who want to fly.

Amy, who is a photography student, will handle the social media presence of the duo while on the journey. She hopes to compile a photo book at the end of their expedition.

A journey that crams 50,000 km in just 80 days will surely take a toll on their health though. “Safety is utmost priority. A micro flight can endure a maximum of 1200 km a day for about 5-6 hours. We will not be air-borne for too many hours at a stretch. We plan on covering the northern hemisphere and will take the eastward route – cutting through India, South East Asia, Japan, Russia and hopefully Seattle, USA by the 1st of April and then onwards,” Maben told CNN-News 18.

They have also prepared their body for this journey. Both the mother and daughter have been practising physical exercise, yoga and pranayama as well as monitoring their nutritional intake.

You may also like: Making History Again, India’s First Women Fighter Pilots Will Soon Take up Combat Jets

Maben told the Times of India, “I’ve flown safely this far. I will start my journey from Jakkur Aerodrome, and want to come back safely to Jakkur. It’s a life-changing task and I can’t expect a better partner than my daughter…”

Audrey and Amy will be the first Indian women to attempt a world record in a microlight plane. Incidentally, this is not Audrey’s first time breaking barriers in the aviation field. In 1993-94, Audrey became the first Indian woman to fly a glider back. And she was just 15 back then!

Speaking to TOI, Audrey said, “I’m not a commercial or a fighter pilot, but a hobby pilot. I run a school in Mysuru, where 200 children study. When I was 22 and pregnant with Amy, my first child, I flew my microlight. I thank my trainers at Jakkur Aerodrome.”

Circumnavigation to crowdfund a scholarship for aspiring female pilots is certainly a unique way to grab eyeballs. Their journey will begin on 18 February 2018 and will include 54 pitstops.

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Mirabai Chanu has won India its first gold since 1995 at the Weightlifting World Championships.

Hailing from Manipur, the diminutive 4’11, 106 lb athlete picked up the honour thanks to an impressive 194 kg lift in the women’s 48kg, a new national record.

The athlete became emotional when she went up to the podium to collect the medal. It has been a good year for her so far—in September, she qualified for the Commonwealth Games 2018, after winning gold at the Commonwealth Senior (men and women) weightlifting championships held at Gold Coast, Australia.

Here are five facts about India’s newest weight lifting sensation.

She is employed by the Indian Railways and has a humble background.

Mirabai tasted bitter disappointment at last year’s Rio Olympics, her debut appearance on a grand stage. She was one of two lifters who did not finish her event.

She is the first Indian in over two decades to claim gold at the World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim, USA, effectively bouncing back from her Rio disappointment.

She saw Kunjarani Devi’s performance at the 2004 Olympics and dreamt of podium glory.

She won her first gold medal at the age of 11.

You may also like:- #ChasingTheGold: Meet Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, India’s Hope for a Gold in Women’s Weightlifting

Mirabai overcame not only personal hardships, but also tackled professional disappointment, and lifted approximately four times her body-weight, to claim her hard-earned gold at the World Championships!

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When the First World War began in 1914, women who wanted to aid the war effort began working as nurses or factory workers as they were barred from military service. However, three years of relentless fighting prompted a change.

By 1917, the Royal Navy desperately needed volunteers to take on “shore jobs” (such as cooks, stewards, clerks, wireless operators, motor drivers and technical experts) so that more men could go to sea. So the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) was created to address this manpower shortage, allowing women to work in shore-based roles and freeing more men to work on ships.

These hardworking women quickly became known as ‘Wrens’.

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From tracking enemy transmissions and maintaining aircrafts to cleaning depth charges and driving convoys, the bravery, skill and commitment of these women paved the way for those who serve in the Armed Forces today. In fact, at the peak of World War II, around 74,000 women were serving in the WRNS in a huge variety of roles.

However, while the role of British “Wrens” has been widely acknowledged, few people know about the contribution of the”Wrins” or the Women’s Royal Indian Naval Service (Wrins) — India’s counterpart to the WRNS.

Fewer still know about Second Officer Kalyani Sen, the first Indian service woman to visit the UK.

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By 1942, the threat of a Japanese invasion of India was looming large. So the British formed the Women’s Auxiliary Corps (India) for female volunteers to contribute to the war cause —  the first and only time, until 1992, women served the Indian Army in non-medical roles.

In 1945, the Wrins were made a separate wing from the Women’s Auxiliary Corps (India) to help the Royal Indian Navy in its defence of India’s coasts and harbours — vital in freeing up British ships to concentrate elsewhere.

During this period, Britain’s Admiralty issued an invitation to Second Officer Kalyani Sen to visit UK for a comparative study of the training and administration in the Women’s Royal Naval Service. Sen, married to a colonel of the Indian Army, accepted with alacrity and left for her two-month study visit in the company of Margaret Cooper (a British officer who served in the Wrins).

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A picture of her from the visit — in a white shirt and naval jacket with gold braid over her sari — was published in all major Indian publications and was soon being hailed as a symbol of “new India”. In an interview with the Daily Herald that soon followed, Sen would explain:

“In India, there is still a big prejudice against women working with men. But the women are so keen to get into the Services that they are breaking it down. “

Back in India, several young Indian women (mostly college graduates and school teachers) had started joining the Wrins. They lived in military-style hostels (established specially for the purpose) that were run by women officers while training for a multitude of “shore jobs”.

Interestingly, unlike the British Wrens (who wore rough serge dresses, woolen stockings and thick overcoats), the Indian Wrins wore white saris with blue borders and seaman’s arm badges. 

Here are some rare photographs of Wrins that give a fascinating glimpse of that bygone era.

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You May Like: Remembering Noor Inayat Khan, the Indian Spy Princess Who Died Fighting the Nazis

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Stories and recollection of the sexual harassment that women suffer broke the news cycle in 2017. For women working in professional work environments in the organised sector, the threat of sexual harassment remains a lingering fear.

Fortunately, our institutions and lawmakers have taken cognisance of the problem and passed orders or framed legislation to deal with it. There is still a very long way to go before these work environments become safer for women.

Here are two major developments in the battle against sexual harassment in the workplace.

Vishaka guidelines, 1997

The Supreme Court of India in 1997 passed the landmark Vishaka judgement, which clearly defined the ambit of sexual harassment in the workplace. It includes the following acts:

“Physical contact and advances; a demand or request for sexual favours; sexually coloured remarks; showing pornography; and any other unwelcome physical verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.”

It even detailed the requirements of an institutional complaints mechanism for workplaces to deal with these complaints, but without a functioning legislative framework, employers clearly felt less compelled to abide by these guidelines.

Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act

In April 2013, Parliament passed the country’s first law against sexual harassment at the workplace, giving the Vishaka guidelines the necessary legislative underpinning, while expanding its scope.

It extended the definition of sexual harassment beyond the Vishaka guidelines. This includes “presence or occurrence of circumstances of implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in employment, threat of detrimental treatment in employment, threat about present or future employment, interference with work or creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment, or humiliating treatment likely to affect the lady employee’s health or safety could also amount to sexual harassment”.

Under the law, organisations employing more than ten people are expected to set up an Internal Committee (IC). The IC is required to address complaints and grievances within a stipulated period, and shelter complainants and witnesses from any undue pressure.

Failure to establish an IC or any other provision of the law results in a fine of Rs 50,000. For repeat offenders, the fine gets doubled, and if an employer is convicted of an offence under the act, he shall suffer twice the punishment. Companies are also expected to submit audit reports at the end of the year on the sexual harassment complaints received.

Evidently, this law has had some positive effect on encouraging more women to come out and address their grievances. A recent study on companies in the BSE 100 list has shown that the number of harassment complaints has jumped from 76 in 2012-2013 to 445 in 2016-17.

However, here are two things that India can improve to better address such complaints:

Strengthen Internal committees and hold them accountable

The battle that activists are waging is to ensure that these committees are autonomous (not beholden to the establishment that has set them up in the first place), accountable, easily accessible (encouraging more women to come forward), and make them gender-sensitive.

Who is responsible for making sure that establishments comply with the law? Who is held accountable if its stipulations are not followed or the IC does not redress a particular complaint against anyone in the hierarchy within a strict time frame?

The law does not really assign that responsibility to anyone. Some lawyers working in the field have argued that state governments must monitor these companies and ensure that they are following these provisions. Without any monitoring, these ICs really cannot affect change, unless there is a personal directive from within the organisation’s hierarchy to mandate such checks.

Read more: Facing Sexual Harassment at Work? Govt’s SHe-Box Portal Will Let You File Complaints.

In other words, there are no real institutional mechanisms to ensure that establishments are held accountable. Without a robust IC, all a woman can do is file an FIR with the police and undergo a long-winded trial process.

Desperate need for police reforms

Despite the horrors of Nirbhaya and the anti-rape law that came into place, it is still a frightening reality that complainants continue to suffer victim-blaming, humiliation and distrust at police stations. Without a robust IC in place, the only scope for redress is filing a First Information Report in a police station.

Despite the new law in force, police still avoid or refuse to file FIRs, especially if the complainant comes from a socially or economically marginalised society. Failure to register an FIR on a complaint of sexual harassment should legally send the offending policeman to jail for a maximum two years. However, it’s nearly impossible to find any record of a police personnel being charged under this provision.

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On a typical Sunday winter afternoon, eager voters queued up outside polling stations, soaking up the soothing sun. They were casting votes to elect their first woman mayor, in the ongoing civic polls in Uttar Pradesh — a state known for giving India its first woman Governor and Chief Minister.

Sanyukta Bhatia not only won the election, but also became the first woman mayor of the state capital.

Sarojini Naidu was UP’s first woman governor, and Sucheta Kriplani was its first Chief Minister. The Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act came into being in 1916, with barrister Syed Nabiullah becoming the first Indian to head the local body. Today, the mayor’s seat is reserved for women.

Citizens are hopeful and optimistic, hoping the appointment of a woman candidate will bring a much-needed fresh perspective to things.

Monika Tripathi, a housewife, told the Hindustan Times, “We are all set to welcome our new woman mayor. It is a big thing for us, and we hope to have a municipal corporation chief who would understand women’s issues better.” She added, “With the election of a woman mayor, we can expect better civic amenities in the days to come.”

You may also like: Here’s How India’s First Woman Lawyer, Cornelia Sorabji Opened Law for Women in 1924!

It has taken long for the government to get the mayor’s seat reserved for women in Lucknow. Anjali Chaturvedi from Hazratganj said, “Why did it take 100 years (or 70 years from the time of independence) for the government to take a call on this? Nowadays, there is nothing that women can’t do. Be it a political career, sports or tough jobs like that of a loco pilot, they are excelling in all fields, and I am sure a woman will excel as a mayor too.”

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There was a case earlier this year that shed light on the state of India’s abortion laws. In late July, the Supreme Court denied a 10-year-old rape victim access to an abortion after a medical panel informed that the procedure would endanger both the girl and her 32-week-old foetus.

Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, which came into force in 1971, if a woman is 12-weeks pregnant, she will need to consult a doctor before she can undergo the procedure.

From 12 to 20 weeks, the law states that the woman requires the assent of two registered medical practitioners. Beyond 20 weeks, and a woman is allowed to undergo abortion only if the pregnancy poses a serious threat to her life — a fact determined by court-appointed medical panels these days.

For its time, the MTP Act of 1971 was a progressive piece of legislation, considering that under the Indian Penal Code enacted by the British in 1860, induced abortion was illegal, and any medical practitioner found performing these operations was likely to face serious jail time.

However, the act led to a spurt of illegal, and unsafe operations. With the discourse on population control also gaining traction, lawmakers felt that it was a time for a change.

One of the features of the MTP Act is that only medical opinion was given credence, as opposed to any social or religious directives, besides requiring a woman’s consent if the case came to terminating a pregnancy, provided that she is an adult.

Despite its progressive intentions, many medical experts believe that the law has not kept up with the times. Data suggests that 10 women die every day in India due to the continued prevalence of unsafe abortions, not to mention the complications they suffer after the procedure.

For starters, gynaecologists and obstetricians argue that the 20-week rule is dated. “The 20-week limit made sense in 1971 when there were no tools to monitor the health of the foetus. In 2016, however, women need the extra three to four weeks window to make the decision in case of a genetic defect in the unborn baby,” said Dr Firuza Parekh, Director Genetics at Jaslok Hospital, to The Quint.

Medical experts argue that rare foetal abnormalities, which current medical technology is equipped to detect, are usually found after the 20-week period. Finally, the law seems unable to respect a woman’s agency to decide whether she wants an abortion or not, with the final decision legally resting in the hands of doctors even in the early stages of pregnancy.

It’s no surprise that this lacuna in the law has resulted in a spurt of cases, where women seek the court’s intervention to terminate their pregnancy post 20-weeks. For rape survivors caught in the double hell of unwanted pregnancy and couples who find out that their child will likely not survive or the carries the risk of a severe handicap at birth make up a significant percentage of cases heard by courts.

Considering, there are no clear legal guidelines to deal with cases where pregnancy has crossed the 20-week mark, women who want to abort approach the courts.

Matters are made worse by the fact that in the past few years, the Supreme Court and various high courts have issued different and sometimes conflicting decisions on MTPs post 20-weeks.

“Because of all these cases coming up, physicians are also confused as to whether to term them as MTPs or obstetric decisions. I think clarity is urgently needed in this matter,” said Dr Jaydeep Tank, a Mumbai-based gynaecologist and obstetrician and Deputy Secretary General of FOGSI, to The Indian Express.

As per the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, tabled in 2014, recognised medical practitioners could take decisions to abort a pregnancy within the 20 and 24-week period ‘in good faith,’ if among other conditions, the pregnancy poses serious risks to the mother or child, or if it is alleged by the pregnant woman to have been caused by rape. The bill is still sitting in Parliament.

For minors, covered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act, an abortion is only granted after the consent of a legal guardian.

All sexual activity under the age of 18 (age of consent) is subject to legal scrutiny. Thus, if any pregnant minor goes out and seeks any sort of medical opinion, the doctor is expected by law to report the matter to the authorities.

This regulation works at cross-purposes with MTP regulations which require doctors to protect the identity of abortion seekers. The outcome of regulations working at cross purposes is that a 16-year-old pregnant girl will now seek out options besides going to doctor, fearing a loss of privacy.

Despite the good intentions of the POSCO Act, the bottom line remains that nearly half the women in India are married before they turn 18, and the chances of sexual activity are consequently high. With POSCO and MTP Act working at cross purposes, many of them seek out unregulated, unregistered and ultimately unsafe abortions because safe facilities turn them away.

Another law that comes in the way of doctors performing safe abortions is the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act of 1994 (PC-PNDT). The law, which seeks to tackle the scourge of female foeticide, criminalises sex determination of the foetus during an ultrasound.

Despite the right intentions, authorities use this law as a blunt instrument to prevent sex-selection and female foeticide. What about cases where an abortion is performed for perfectly genuine reasons, and it turns out that the foetus is female? There is a lack of clarity on the matter. When medical facilities with safe abortion services turn away women for fear of the authorities, they go to unqualified doctors and quacks.

Read also: In a Landmark Judgement, SC Allows Abortion for 24-Week Abnormal Pregnancy

The problem is also one of access. One in two abortions performed result in serious health risks for women and that is down to a real shortage of people trained in abortion services. In the bill seeking to amend the MTP Act, which is still sitting in Parliament, it was envisioned that AYUSH doctors, trained nurses and auxiliary nurse-midwives could perform non-surgical abortions via pills provided they undergo mandatory training. Why is this bill still confined to the cold storage?

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At Kolhapur’s central square stands the beautiful statue of warrior queen astride a horse. One of the grittiest characters in Indian history, this woman was also called the ‘rainha dos Marathas’ or the ‘Queen of the Marathas’ by the Portuguese. She is Rani Tarabai Bhonsle, the brave daughter-in-law of Chhatrapati Shivaji and one of India’s greatest medieval monarchs.

Among the few women in history to save a kingdom by sheer force and willpower, Rani Tarabai’s unflagging courage and indomitable spirit are at par with the legendary Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi, Rani Rudramma Devi of Warangal and Rani Abbakka Chowta of Ullal. Yet, little is written about this warrior queen or her incredible story.

Here’s the untold tale of how Rani Tarabai etched her mark in the annals of history.

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Born in 1675, Tarabai was the daughter of Hambir Rao Mohite, the famed Sar Senapati (commander-in-chief) of Shivaji’s Maratha army.  Fiercely independent as a young girl, she was well-trained in sword fighting, archery, cavalry, military strategy, diplomacy and all other subjects of statecraft.

A woman who witnessed the rise and fall of the Marathas, Tarabai was just eight-years-old when she was married to Shivaji’s younger son Rajaram. This was an era when the Mughals and the Marathas were constantly at war for control over the Deccan.

In 1674, Shivaji had been crowned the ruler of the independent Maratha kingdom established by him. Under his able leadership, the empire quickly became a key political force in India at the height of Mughal power.

However, the legendary leader passed away in 1680, with the years after his death seeing the Marathas pass through their toughest time.

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The year 1689 saw the eldest son of Shivaji and his first wife Saibai, Sambhaji (who had led the Marathas for nearly a decade) being captured and put to death after Raigad fort fell to a Mughal army of over fifteen thousand. His wife, Yesubai and son, Shahu, were captured and taken to the Mughal court as hostages.

During the same battle, the new Maratha king — Rajaram (Shivaji’s second son and Tarabai’s husband — managed to escape from Raigad using a disguise. He eventually made his way to the Gingee fort (in present-day Tamil Nadu), before setting up court at Satara. However, in yet another blow to the Marathas, he passed away due to lung disease in 1700 after an extremely short reign.

A month after his sudden death, Tarabai took over the reins of the Maratha kingdom as regent (for her 4-year-old son, Shivaji II). Realizing the urgent need for strategic and stable leadership if the Marathas were to stop the Mughal onslaught (led by Aurangzeb himself), the 25-year-old widow also took command of the Maratha army.

When the Mughal army heard this news, they were delighted by the prospect of an easy end to the Maratha menace, assuming that a woman and an infant would not provide much resistance. They would soon learn otherwise.

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Though grief-stricken by the loss of her husband, Tarabai did not waste time on tears. Instead, she threw herself into organizing a well-planned and vigorous opposition to Aurangzeb. In fact, in his book, A Social History of the Deccan, historian Richard Eaton quotes the following lines by Khafi Khan (court chronicler of the Mughals and the author of Muntkhab al-Lubab):

[The Mughals felt] that it would not be difficult to overcome two young children and a helpless woman. They thought their enemy weak, contemptible and helpless; but Tara Bai, as the wife of Ram Raja [i.e. Rajaram] was called, showed great powers of command and government, and from day to day the war spread and the power of the Mahrattas increased.

An intelligent woman, Tarabai had earned a reputation during her husband’s lifetime for her knowledge of civil, diplomatic and military matters. She used this knowledge to lead from the front —travelling between forts, forging crucial partnerships, mobilizing resources and men.

A skilled cavalry warrior, she also motivated her commanders and soldiers by personally leading aggressive attacks on the enemy.

In his memoirs, Bhimsen (an officer in the Mughal army) mentions that Tarabai “was a stronger ruler than her husband” and that Tarabai “became all in all and regulated things so well that not a single Maratha leader acted without her order”.

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One of Tarabai’s greatest strengths was that she never stopped learning, even if it was from the enemy. She mastered Aurangzeb’s particular technique of bribing commanders on the enemy side. Also, following the same techniques used by the imperial army, Tarabai and her commanders began penetrating the long-held territories of the Mughal empire (as far north as Malwa and Gujarat) and appointing their own revenue collectors (kamaishdars).

Thus, even when her forts of her own fell into Aurangzeb’s hands, Tarabai always had control of resources from her permanent collection centres in Mughal domain!

In her seven-year period as regent, Tarabai single-handedly directed the Maratha resistance against the massive army of Aurangzeb, then the mightiest ruler in the world. As Mughal chronicler Khafi Khan wrote:

“She won the hearts of her officers, and for all the struggles and schemes, the campaigns and sieges of Aurangzeb up to the end of his reign, the power of the Mahrattas increased day by day.”

An indomitable warrior queen who was deeply devoted to her kingdom, Tarabai didn’t just prevent the Maratha Confederacy from disintegrating when it was at its lowest ebb, she played a crucial role in it rise to national power (by 1760, the Marathas de facto controlled almost all of India).

Under her rule, the Maratha army established their rule over Southern Karnataka and plundered several rich towns of the country’s western coast (such as Burhanpur, Surat and Broach).

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In the midst of repeated failures in quelling the Maratha resistance, an ageing Aurangzeb died on March 2, 1707. Facing a power vacuum at the top, the Mughals craftily released Shahu (Sambhaji’s son and Tarabai’s nephew) to divide the Maratha leadership by sending a new claimant to the throne.

The idea succeeded when Shahu challenged Tarabai and Shivaji II for leadership of the Maratha Confederacy. Tarabai refused, fearing the impact Shahu’s Mughal upbringing may have on his reign. This dispute quickly transformed into a battle.

However, given Shahu’s legal claim to the throne, chieftain sent by Tarabai to fight him started defecting to the other side. And finally in 1708, with the support of Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath’s diplomacy and the new Mughal emperor’s resources, he succeeded.

Shahu I was crowned the Maratha ruler at Satara and Tarabai was sidelined.

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Not one to give up easily, Tarabai established a rival court in Kolhapur the next year but was deposed after Shahu and Rajasabai (Rajaram’s second wife) joined forces to put Rajasabai’s son — Sambhaji II — on the Kolhapur throne. Tarabai and her son Shivaji were thrown into prison, where she spent 16 years and her son eventually died.

However, later Sambhaji turned hostile, forcing Shahu  to switch sides. Finally freeing her from the prison, Shahu invited Tarabai to stay in the Satara palace, albeit under house arrest. But the former queen’s role in Maratha polity was not over,

At the age of 73, Tarabai stepped out of the shadows after Shahu fell seriously ill, with no direct descendants of Shivaji to appoint as his heir.  She revealed that she had concealed her the existence of her grandson Ramraja after her son’s death, fearing his assassination by Rajasabai and Sambhaji II, and that he was now 22 years old—a Maratha prince waiting for his destiny.

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So Shahu adopted Ramraja his heir before he died in 1749. With Tarabai’s help, the young prince ascended the Maratha throne. However, later when he became close to the powerful Peshwa, Nana Sahib, and refused to accede to her wishes, Tarabai denounced him as her grandson.

Nonetheless, Tin 1752, Tarabai had to settle for a pact that acknowledged Nana Sahib’s authority in return for the freedom to settle “into her life’s final role – that of a powerful quasi-sovereign dowager”. As mentioned by Eaton in his book,

“At Satara, she maintained a regular court and conducted business of state, issuing orders, conferring grants, and receiving Maratha sardars, while the Peshwa at least publicly acquiesced to her will or sought her advice…

…In 1752 she ordered a Maratha chief to supply fodder for the cavalry horses at specified rates. The same year, the superintendent of Pratapgarh fort asked her to have some roofs in a temple compound re-thatched. And the next year, we find her settling a divorce case involving her Muslim maid.”

Tarabai breathed her last at the age of 86 in 1761, a few months after Ahmad Shah Abdali decimated the Maratha Army at the 3rd battle of Panipat. Had the indomitable queen not taken charge in 1701, it is quite likely that the Marathas would have had to face a similar defeat much earlier and the history of India would have been very different.

Also Read: The Forgotten Story of Rani Abbakka Chowta, the Fearless Warrior Queen of Tulu Nadu

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Afshan Ashiq was escorting a group of girls to a practice ground. When protests broke out, she wasn’t bothered. However, while taking a roundabout route to the sports complex, she and her group got caught in teargas shelling.

A policeman slapped one of the girls in the group, and when Ashiq protested, he began to abuse her verbally. It is then that she picked up a stone, and hurled it. The photograph of that act became viral, and Afshan was immortalised.

Trained at the National Institute of Sports, Afshan Ashiq shot into the limelight after that picture. She met J&K Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, who promised to do her bit to promote Afshan and women’s football in the valley.

Captain and goalkeeper of the J&K women’s football team, Afshan also plays for a Mumbai club and has inspired a Bollywood biopic. She is a coach and mentors youngsters, motivating them to achieve their dreams.

Afshan hopes sports can be an be an effective deterrent to violence, but also believes in standing up for injustice. She told the Times of India, “I don’t regret anything. I would not have picked up a stone had it not been for the misbehaviour of the police.”

You may also like: How Rupanti Munda Fought Naxal Attacks, Poverty to Become an International Footballer!

The state administration has taken a keen interest in Afshan’s endeavours, by providing her with sports equipment and helping put together a team. Afshan is also getting exposure at the national level and is competing in the Indian Women’s League. When Scroll asked her about her dreams, “I want to play for India”, was the confident and honest reply.

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Smt. Shashi Tyagi, the Secretary of Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti in Rajasthan received the Jamnalal Bajaj Award for Outstanding Contribution to Constructive Work at the Jamnalal Bajaj Awards 2017.

An educationist and dedicated social worker, her journey in this field started in 1980, when she, along with her husband, the late Mr L. Tyagi shifted to Jodhpur. The couple founded the Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti (GRAVIS) in 1983 in Gagadi village, Jodhpur, to work on issues such as substance abuse, caste and gender discrimination, purdah system, illiteracy, water scarcity, affecting the people of the region.

Today, GRAVIS works in the northwest region of Rajasthan across six districts, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Nagaur, Jaipur and Barmer, covering around 1200 villages and serving about 1.2 million people.

GRAVIS works with vulnerable and needy groups, to develop self-reliance in rural communities. Blending traditional wisdom with modern sciences, it encourages community involvement and sustainable practices.

Some of its areas of work include —

Village Development Committees: GRAVIS has helped the formation of community-based organisations called Village Development Committees (VDCs). Smt. Tyagi and her GRAVIS team guide and facilitate the VDCs to address pertinent issues, ensure people’s participation and implement developmental programs initiated by her as well as those introduced under government schemes.

Watershed development and management: GRAVIS uses both traditional as well as modern scientific methods for conserving and storing rainwater. The traditional ones are Khadin (bund construction), Taanka (rainwater harvested for drinking water), Naadi (village pond) and Beri (percolation well).

The construction of khadins has resulted in soil moisture retention and a two-fold increase in crop yield.

Access to drinking water: The problem of access to drinking water in the desert region was adversely affecting the lives of the women and young girls. GRAVIS initiated construction of taanka for each house, and this meets the requirements of a family’s water supply for 6-9 months; the families rely on wells or naadis (village ponds) for the remaining months. This initiative has helped in reducing the drudgery of the women and girls could go to school. GRAVIS makes the facility available on two conditions i.e. the taanka must be in the name of the woman in the family, and the girls in the family should be sent to school.

Till date 6,635 taankas have been constructed and have benefitted over 1,00,000 families.

Afforestation and Seed Banks: GRAVIS helped in developing village forests, pastures, gochars (grazing land), and arid horticulture units. Seed banks have allowed villagers to stock seeds to overcome crisis situations, and women also use this facility to provide seed loan.

Farmers’ Associations/Clubs: To increase awareness of farming practices in the arid conditions; knowledge exchange through workshops, training and exposure visits are conducted. Farmers clubs have been formed, and these have helped in improving crop cultivation, expansion and livestock management.

Women Self Help Groups (SHGs): GRAVIS helped in the formation of over 1650 SHGs comprising around 19,500 members.

Interventions include leadership development, capacity building, microfinance, girl child education and health care.

Education: GRAVIS has set up 98 schools in the Thar

Desert, out of which 46 have been handed over to the government or the community. Approximately 7200 children are enrolled in the primary schools.

Serving the Mining Community: Realizing the challenges faced by the mineworkers, Smt. Tyagi has been regularly campaigning and sensitising mineworkers on their living and working conditions. She has also campaigned for the rights of miners who are suffering from silicosis.

Healthcare: A 50-bed GRAVIS hospital in Tinwari, in Jodhpur, was set up in 2000. In addition to providing healthcare services, it also identifies and links patients to other hospitals for major and minor surgeries and illnesses.

In 2003, an eyecare unit was set up to treat glaucoma and night blindness, and so far over 19,000 operations have been carried out.

Smt. Tyagi has received the Anadi-Kamal Award and Ram Krishna Jaydayal Dalmiya Award for her work. She is on the board as an advisor for several national and international organisations.

Smt. Tyagi has also been invited to many institutions and universities in Norway, France, Italy, US, UK, Germany, Finland, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to present the GRAVIS model of Gandhian work.

On October 28, 2017, Smt. Shashi Tyagi was conferred with the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in the category of Constructive Work.

Know an inspirational changemaker working for rural development at the grassroots level? Click below to nominate them for Jamnalal Bajaj Awards 2017.

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Venezia Annie Carlo is all of 17, but that hasn’t stopped her from sweeping in the medals. This powerlifter has clinched four medals — two gold, one silver and one bronze — in the Asian Classic Powerlifting Championship held at Alleppey in Kerala.

Trained by Sathish Kumar Kudroli, winning medals for Venezia is perhaps a family affair. Her father, Vincent Prakash Carlo, is an international bodybuilder and powerlifter.

Following in her father’s footsteps, this young girl is now eyeing the world championship.

“When I saw dad bring home medals, I wanted to be like him. My dream is to clinch medals in the World Powerlifting championship as well as to become an air hostess. Balancing study and sports is difficult, but I have been managing well, though, at times, I feel drained after practice,” she said in a report to Bangalore Mirror.

In a telephonic interview with Team Mangalorean, Vincent Carlos said,

“I am very proud of my daughter for her achievements at this age.”

“Participating in these competitions needs a lot of finance — it costs around Rs 4 lakhs to take part in International competitions. Even though Venizia and I have won medals in International events, the government has not released our cash prize money for our achievements so far, and I hope to receive the money soon and not wait for years.”

Some of Venezia’s other achievements include the bronze medal in the Hong Kong Powerlifting Championships in 2016. In December 2016 in Jamshedpur, she won the silver in Powerlifting, gold in Bench Press, and gold in Deadlift, in the 57 kg category.

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Commuters may soon feel safer while boarding autos & e-rickshaws in Delhi.

In a move to help girls & women travel more comfortably, especially during their ‘last mile’ journey home, Delhi Police is planning to introduce QR codes in autos & e-rickshaws.

These QR codes will enable women to procure details of auto or e-rickshaw drivers on their smartphones as soon as they board the vehicle – by simply scanning it.

All you have to do is scan the code using ‘Himmat’ or any other scanning app. Each QR code will state the driver’s name, mobile number, driving license details, badge number and address.

In case the owner of the vehicle is someone other than the person driving it, their details will also be available.

This data can be easily shared with the police.

Currently, the plan is to introduce these QR codes in all rickshaws parked near colleges and popular locations like Connaught Place, Hauz Khas village and Delhi Haat.

Speaking to the Times of India, DCP (PRO) Madhur Verma stated that commuters could immediately get in touch with local police, in case they find the person driving them is somebody other than any of the persons registered in the app with no details mentioned.

Read more: Here Are the Solutions That Will Clear Delhi’s Smog and Enrich Farmers as Well

The Delhi Police is now connecting to active driver unions across the capital and requesting them to adopt the new plan. Ongoing discussions state that the plan may be launched by the end of January 2018.

While women commuters may require an internet connection on their smartphone to share the details, in the absence of a data pack, they can share the unique ID number via SMS to 8130099100.

This SMS will make sure that police officials call the commuter at the end of her journey.

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According to a report by ActionAid, published earlier this year, 33% (85.2 million) of the total number of child brides in the world are from India, and nearly 103 million Indians are married before their 18th birthday.

The reasons are manifold. Poverty, the looming fear of dowry, and other socio-economic factors like patriarchy, class, caste, poor education, and societal pressure act as catalysts. Combating child marriage requires preventive measures and the education of children and parents alike.

There are many initiatives, programs and schemes addressing the issue of child marriage. Most fall into the categories of education, economic opportunities and financial incentives, improvement of nutrition and laws and policies. These schemes provide support and work as an incentive so that parents do not get their children married before the legal age.

Technology plays a significant role in preventing child marriages. “GPower,” an app launched in 2014, as a joint venture of Accenture and NGO CINI (Child in Need Institute) has reportedly helped in saving over 200 girls spread around 20 villages from either being trafficked or being a victim of child marriage.

Teachers in villages were trained and provided with tablets/phones with the app installed. Their job was to register every detail of adolescent girls aged between 10-19 in those villages. The app sent data to servers, for analysis, giving results and trends.

Another app, BandhanTod, used an SOS method to alert the nearest NGO when a child marriage issue was identified.

The latest initiative to combat child marriage prefers to tackle the problem at the source. UNICEF and the Administrative Staff College of India have come together to create an app, to monitor the attendance of school girls in Malda, West Bengal. The app looks to track the attendance of girls and raise an alarm if an anomaly arises.

Every school in the region will be provided with the app. A teacher will register attendance of the students, and if a girl is absent for five consecutive days, the authorities will take a note of it and try to identify the reason for the absence.

According to officials concerned, the application will also serve other purposes. The Chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee and a Councillor of the English Bazaar Municipality both told The Statesman, “In the current situation in the district, this drive is important as it will help curb the tendency of the parents to marry their kids off prematurely.”

School is vital, for education can be a means for these girls to climb out of their rigid social structure. The awareness spread amongst parents helps them realise the advantages of educating and nurturing their children’s dreams instead of marrying them off.

You may also like: Her 13-Year-Old Friend Died in Labour. So She Fights Against Child Marriages Now.

However, being aware of a situation can only help to a certain extent, and in this regard, the app which tracks attendance to ensure that all is right is a stronger approach because it works as a preventive measure and seeks to nip the problem in the bud.

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India is going digital you may have heard. But do you know who isn’t? 71% of Indian women.

The United Nations released a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) titled State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a digital world in New Delhi on Monday.

This report highlights how the internet in India is still a gender-based privilege, a ‘male bastion’ or ‘male preserve.’

The population of India is 1.34 billion. Women constitute over 48.5 percent of it.

And while globally 12 percent more men used the internet than women in 2017, it is important to note that less than 1/3rd of India’s total interest users, i.e. 29%, are females.

What is shocking is that despite the difference in population (in terms of percentage) between men and women being only three percent, over 71 percent of Indians who use the internet are male.

While digital India tries to crawl its way into its remote rural villages, thousands of Indian girls in these far-flung areas are refused access to Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) solely based on gender, which is a primary cause of low female representation in the digital space.

This lack of equal opportunities to access online services and information deprive women of higher/quality education and skill training that could help them contribute to the economy and become leaders on a global level.

How then do we bridge this glaring gender divide while also protecting children and adults alike from the dangers the internet poses?

As per The Wire, while 43% of Indian men owned a cell phone, women only constituted 28% of mobile owners. The gender gap is sure to shock you, but it doesn’t give the full picture.

According to a survey conducted in semi-rural Madhya Pradesh, a majority of women – despite having cell phones – couldn’t use them due to a lack of literacy. These women were dependent upon their literate kin to dial a number or even read messages.

So the biggest roadblock we need to tackle is illiteracy. Make primary and secondary education for girls and women accessible even in the remotest parts of India.

According to the Census 2011, 65.46% of women were literate when compared to over 80% of men. Also, over 23% of girls drop out of school before they reach puberty – this needs to be tackled.

Many Indian rural homes are governed by patriarchal beliefs which restrict the movement of women in public spaces. As most ICT facilities are available at community internet centres, they are unable to access them. So, more accessibility, coupled with a change of attitude, is needed.

Read more: The Untold Story Of a Young Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Bengaluru Days

This digital divide can be tackled only when citizens are made aware of the use of digital technology to reduce information inequality and how it will benefit them at all levels.

Bridging the digital divide calls for collective action by governments, the private sector, families and children themselves to level the digital playing field and make the internet a safe and resourceful tool for women and children.

“Girls and boys in India have the unique opportunity to benefit from the connectivity that the digital world can provide. India is famous as an IT hub and no matter where they live, every girl or boy should have a digital advantage,” said UNICEF representative in India, Yasmin Ali Haque, at the launch.

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Life for those living in the coastal villages of Kerala has revolved around fishing since time immemorial.

And it had always been the men who ventured into the deepest seas and braved the most turbulent tempests to bring back a bountiful haul, while women were expected to remain at their shore-lined settlements praying for their husbands’ safety.

But one woman from a fishing hamlet of Chettuva in Thrissur refused to abide by the age-old norms and taboos about the fishermen community and today KC Rekha is India’s only licenced deep-sea fisherwoman.

Venturing into the deep and rough waters of Arabian Sea on a 20-year-old single-engine boat, Rekha has been bravely battling the odds from the time she had stepped in to join her husband P Karthikeyan as a deckhand 13 years ago.

Without a compass, GPS device, life jackets or any kind of modern navigation equipment, the couple has been surviving the fickle tides on a daily basis with the steadfast belief that Kadalamma, the sea goddess revered by numerous fishermen communities, will bring them home safe and sound.

It had been out of adversity that led the 45-year-old mother of four to take up a profession strictly out of bounds for women when the family couldn’t afford to pay its workers anymore. Despite facing downright dismissal by fellow community members, Rekha remained adamant and went on to take the revolutionary path with unfaltering support from her husband.

Rekha and Karthikeyan have an unconventional story behind their marriage. Having met during a Hindi course and subsequently fallen in love, the duo faced severe objections from their respective families. They had to leave their homes to start a new life.

Having suffered from seasickness initially, Rekha took it upon herself to learn even the most basic of fishing skills from her husband and eventually surpassed even the proficiency of her seasoned counterpart.

“She can sniff the presence of a shoal of fish, swim against the current and lay her net quickly. She is better than me in doing that. She can give you lessons on the habits and paths of fish such as sardine, tuna, mackerel and sea bass,” Karthikeyan proudly told Hindustan Times.

As of her national recognition, it was following a painstaking and expansive research by Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) that Rekha was found to be the lone woman in the country fishing along deep waters of the coastline.

“It was a tedious search. There are many women engaged in fishing in backwaters and rivers, but no record of a woman’s presence in fishing along our coastline was available. We have done an extensive search and finally spotted her and recognised her feat,” CMFRI director A Gopalakrishnan said.

You may also like: Meet 17-Yr-Old Faseela, the First Doctor From This Kerala Fishermen’s Community

Recognising her grit and resilience, she was felicitated by the Union minister of state for agriculture Sudarshan Bhagat at a function in April. The event also led to Rekha receive the first ever fisherperson licence in the country to be bestowed upon any woman till date.

Furthermore, the couple was provided with financial and technical support by CMFRI to start cage farming in the fringes of the pier and were supplied with cage and fish seedlings as well.

The agency also helped to get their eldest daughter, Maya, a Class 12 student, a scholarship of ₹1 lakh.

Life has indeed been a struggle for the couple, but Rekha has no qualms about the choice she had taken more than a decade ago and has come to love her profession.

“What we need is a new boat with a double outboard engine and a new set of nets. I am sure I can steer my family out of the financial mess and provide good education to my children,” Rekha said.

For a woman who broke the glass ceiling by sailing into the deep sea to alleviate the burden of her family’s sustenance, Rekha stands tall as a fisherwoman, and we hope that more women across the country look up to her and enter the field fearlessly.

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Vikram and Nisha have been married for nine years. They both are successful professionals and lead a seemingly happy life. In the tenth year of their marriage, Nisha falls in love with her colleague Akash. Vikram finds out about this affair and collects evidence of this. When he has enough evidence, he files a case of adultery under the relevant IPC provision.

In India, under the existing provisions, women cannot be prosecuted for adultery. So in the case mentioned above, Nisha’s husband can press charges of adultery on Akash, who can get jail time of up to 5 years, but the same is not applicable for Nisha. This could, however, change, with the Supreme Court agreeing to revisit the provision.

The definition of adultery is—voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not their spouse.

In this case, both Nisha and Akash are culpable of committing adultery. However, the law does not look at both parties in an adulterous relationship in the same light.

Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with adultery, reads as follows:

“497. Adultery—Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor.”

There are two things that this section lays down:

1. Only men, and not women, are punished for committing adultery.
2. The maximum punishment for adultery is five years with fine.

Talish Ray, Managing Partner TRS law offices and Project Director, Girlsgottaknow (an information initiative for young women) says, “The fundamental flaw in this definition is that it treats women as the property of the husband. In my opinion, there is no need to amend the section.”

“The question here is whether the state should be entering into a private space between two consenting adults.”

“It is an archaic provision, more so when we are in the day and age of ‘tinder’. It is just another way of enforcing submissiveness of women in the marriage. The need of the hour is perhaps to do away with this provision entirely.”

Hearing a petition filed by Joseph Shine, challenging the constitutionality of Section 497 IPC read with Section 198(2) of the CrPC, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, issued the notice after hearing the petition.

It asked why a married woman, who is equally liable for committing adultery with another married man, is not punished along with the man.

Observing that the section relieves the woman of any liability, the bench said, “Though the act is hypothetically capable of being committed by both the man and the woman, only one is liable for a criminal offence.”

The court also said that the provision goes against gender neutrality and treats women like personal property. “It is perceivable from the language of the provision, that the fulcrum of offence is destroyed once the consent of husband is obtained,” the court said. “Viewed from that scenario, the provision creates a dent on the independent identity of women.”

In 1951, Yusuf Aziz challenged the constitutionality of this provision, but the Bombay High Court upheld the section. In 1971, the Fifth Law Commission made some suggestions about changes in the provision, including making the law gender-neutral and reducing the prison term from five to two years. Those recommendations were also not considered.

In 2006, the National Commission for Women rightly recommended that adultery be decriminalised. At a time when many jurisdictions around the globe have decriminalised adultery, we in India are still considering whether or not to decriminalise it. The existing gender discriminatory penal law of adultery, deserves a serious relook and revision, if not declared completely unconstitutional.

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26-year-old Aniket Kothale allegedly died in the custody of the Sangli Police leaving his bereaved mother, wife and three-year-old daughter behind.

Kothale was taken into custody for alleged robbery. His body was burnt beyond recognition and disposed of in Amboli Ghat.

The six people arrested for his custodial death included five police constables and one helper, who allegedly helped them dispose of the body after they put Kothale through severe torture, reports the Indian Express. They have been charged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 201(causing the disappearance of evidence or giving false information), 303 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 34 (common intention).

After the case came to the forefront, Aniket’s death wrecked the image of the entire state police. In an attempt at damage control, the Maharashtra government and police department offered ₹10 lakh as compensation to Aniket’s family, fast-tracked the investigation and even appointed a special public prosecutor to fight for the family.

However, among all these efforts, one woman’s attempt to help the family stands out. Sujata Patil, the deputy superintendent of police (DySP), posted in Hingoli district, has decided to seek guardianship of Aniket’s three-year-old daughter.

She wrote to Vishwas Nangre Patil, Inspector-general of police, Kolhapur Range, and asked for permission to take legal guardianship of Aniket’s daughter.

Patil requested and convinced Aniket’s family to accept Sujata’s appeal, even though he understands that it will be tough for the family to allow or trust another police officer to become a guardian to their daughter, after Aniket’s alleged custodial death.

Sujata is a mother of three children, two boys who are international football players, and one 18-year-old girl, Samartha. She cleared her MPSC exam in 1987 to become a police sub-inspector and served with the Mumbai police for over 29 years.

Speaking to the Times of India, she said, “Neither can I get a son for Kothale’s mother nor a husband for his young widow. But there is definitely something I can do for his small daughter, who does not even understand what has happened. We will take care of her education and all future needs. I will soon complete the legal process, and she will be my fourth child.”

Read more: Brave Kolkata Cop Set to Become First On-Duty Police Officer with a Prosthetic Leg

Sujata’s husband, an RTO inspector, and daughter Samartha have extended their full support to her. Sujata has expressed she would be more than willing for Aniket’s daughter to live with them or stay with her own mother, as per the choice of the family.

Lauding her decision, Arvind Chawria, her senior at Hingoli and Superintendent of police, said, “She has made us proud. This will not only set an example before society but also go a long way in helping the police better its image.”

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Stories of women driving autos or taxis, a profession dominated by men, aren’t uncommon in India. With the rise of cab-aggregators like Ola and Uber, however, women in Mumbai, especially those who come from conservative backgrounds, are slowly stepping out of the confines of rigid social structures and driving taxis at night.

Since these cabs are equipped with GPS tracking systems in their cars, women drivers in the city are not too worried about safety. As per this Indiatimes story, some of these women are stay-at-home mothers in the morning and cab drivers at night.

Read also: From Marriages to Markets, Empowered Women Are Changing India

The income allows them to support their household in a city like Mumbai where the cost of living is very high, while also giving them financial independence.

Speaking to Indiatimes, 30-year-old Rizwana Shaikh says that she rarely comes across unruly customers. “However, when sloshed men book the cab I feel uncomfortable and don’t go ahead with the ride,” says Shaikh.

She reportedly earns a monthly income of ₹30,000-40,000 per month. Her husband, a small businessman in Jogeshwari, is fully supportive of this endeavour.

While they declined to reveal any specific figures about their operations in Mumbai, both Ola and Uber state that this trend of women taking up cab driving gigs is on the rise.

“The number of women partners is growing by over 40% quarter on quarter in metros as well as tier-2 and -3 cities. We have women working with us across categories like cabs, autos and bikes,” said an Ola spokesperson to Indiatimes.

Read also: 500 Women Who Were Manual Scavengers in Delhi Are All Set to Begin Working as Cab Drivers Soon

One of the real advantages that cab aggregating platforms like Ola and Uber offer these women drivers flexibility when it comes to working hours. “I take bookings only when I can manage. Also, I do not have to park my vehicle at the stand and wait for commuters. This is way more convenient and safe,” said Vidya Shelke, who lives in the western suburbs with her husband and two children, to Indiatimes. She has been driving her cab for the past six months.

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Sathi Mondal hasn’t been able to eat a morsel of food or drink a drop of water through her mouth for the past eight years, but that hasn’t stopped her from penning down hundreds of poems.

Emerging as an embodiment of unwavering resilience and strength, she found her refuge in poetry and has channelled years of excruciating pain into thoughtfully written poetic verses.

Following an intestinal infection and a wrongly diagnosed medical treatment in 2009, Sathi’s well-planned life went utterly off-track, and it was poetry that came as a respite for the young woman, as she shuttled between home and hospitals for multiple treatments.

“When I write poetry, or see my poems getting published in print, I forget all my problems. I feel I can live a hundred years,” she told IANS from her hospital bed.

A resident of Ghoshpara in Nadia district of West Bengal, Sathi’s family, has always struggled to make ends meet.

Having envisioned a career in sports, she took her studies quite seriously until a botched-up surgery dampened all her plans.

A fitment of Ryles Tube in her stomach has been helping her ingest a liquid diet all these years. However, the process has been quite a strain for Sathi and often causes complications leading to frequent hospital visits for a change of tubes.

“There is pain and, at times, it becomes unbearable. Sometimes I feel survival would be difficult. And it is here that my poetry comes in. It is my poems which inspire me to continue my battle,” she explained.

Having written more than 500 poems, at least a hundred pieces by Sathi have found its way to Bengali magazines like Collarge, Khola Haoa, Udvas, Lekha Diye Rekhapat, Chhayaman and Krishnachura. In fact, her poems have not just appealed to readers but have also garnered critical acclaim, and she now finds herself often being invited to various literary conferences across the state.

She considers Nobel poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore as her role model and also looks up to renowned Bengali poets like Nirendranath Chakraborty and Aranyak Basu, the latter of whom helps the young woman with monthly subsistence amount of ₹1,000.

You may also like: A Chandigarh Woman Sold Poems to Fund Her 21-Year-Old Friend’s Cancer Treatment

Despite her prowess with words and emerging fame, the 23-year-old has been leading a life of emotional and financial despondency. Her father Gopal Mondal, a van rickshaw driver, had passed away one-and-a-half years ago and she had to discontinue her studies in the final year of her undergraduate degree at Kalyani Mahavidyalaya.

Her mother has been sustaining the family by selling sarees from door to door, and is barely able to shoulder the cost of her daughter’s treatment.

Despite the dark clouds hovering Sathi’s already burdened life, a flicker of hope arose when two state-run hospitals, the SSKM and the Calcutta Medical College, have assured Sathi that her medical condition can be alleviated through surgery.

“They have asked me to wait as there is a long queue of patients. Also, they want to conduct more tests before performing the surgery. Maybe I will again be able to eat orally soon. I am very hopeful,” she added.

In an age where life and even survival are taken for granted, the optimism displayed by Sathi is beyond admiration and heartbreaking at the same time. We hope that she is able to find sufficient means for her surgery and manages to find worldwide acclaim for her poetry.

Featured Image Inset Source: Manorama.

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Akshay Kumar’s next biopic, Padman, showcases the story of Arunachalam Muruganantham. Muruganantham is from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and was affected by the struggles the women in his family faced, during their menstrual cycles.

Since menstruation is a taboo subject, especially in the rural parts of India, the women were not comfortable discussing products which could help them. Imagine the reaction Muruganantham got when a man suggested products which could help them be more comfortable when they were on their periods!

Even with the lack of support from the women in his family, Muruganantham endured and developed thin pads that were more effective and hygienic than the rags that the women in his villages used during menstruation.

Today, he is an inspirational figure and a well-known social entrepreneur.

His low-cost sanitary pad making machine has been widely praised as a critical step in changing women’s lives in India.

Here is a list of a five such people and organisations, who have worked to make periods more comfortable for women, across different parts of India:

1. EcoFemme (Tamil Nadu): Providing washable and reusable pads to girls.

Ecofemme works in Tamil Nadu and has been teaching girls in government schools about the process of menstruation in an interactive way. The girls are informed about the functions of reproductive organs, why women get periods etc. The girls take an oath to pass on this knowledge to at least one more person.

They even produce, sell and distribute pads that can be washed and reused, with a hope to significantly reducing carbon footprints.

2. Saathi (Hyderabad): Producing sanitary napkins that decompose in six months.

This start-up uses the readily available banana tree fibre to make sanitary napkins. The company used the trial-and-error method in a control group of 600 women and successfully manufactures pads that are thin, chemical-free and 50% more absorbent than typical pads available in the market.

These pads decompose in just six months, as compared to the 500 years that typical pads take.

3. Amani Dabriwala (Mumbai): Dedicated her gap year to school girls.

Amani is 19 and has just passed out of Class 12. She is on a gap year and is dedicating this free time to educate girls studying in Class 7-11, on menstrual hygiene. Amani gives talks through presentations in various government schools in Mumbai. She has also successfully installed two pad disposal machines in schools, sponsored through crowdfunding.

4. Kanika (Thrissur, Kerala): Making eco-friendly, affordable pads.

Kanika is an NGO in Kerala, which makes organic pads called “Soukhyam.”

The inspiration for their work comes from Arunachalam Muruganantham, who helped Kanika get the low-cost machinery to produce sanitary pads.

Around 50 people work in the NGO and make 200 packets of pads every month. Each packet consists of 10 pads and out of the total 200 packets manufactured, 50 are distributed at a girls’ home. The rest are sold at a minimal price of ₹43.

5. Sanitary Pad Bank (Mumbai): Crowdfunding pads for the needy.

The TEE Foundation has set up sanitary pad banks in various places in Mumbai. These banks make use of crowdfunding to bring together donors, volunteers, and the beneficiaries. You can donate funds or sanitary napkins to the banks which are then sold at a price of ₹7 for ten pads. The initiative helps the needy while also encouraging people to contribute for the benefit of society.

Featured Image Source.

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