J is for Justice – Judge

Black has always been the color of darkness. But there is one profession which makes good use of black – Judge. The Judges in court, dressed in black robe have the life of accused in their hands and also the command to grant justice to people. A judge is the person whom everyone from the accused to victim look up to when it comes to the hearing of any case. Below are some Women In Black holding the power to be called as – “My Lord”.

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Anna Chandy

Justice Anna Chandy was the first ever female judge from India in 1948. Not only this, she was also the first woman from India to be appointed as a high court judge in Tamil Nadu High Court on 9^th Feb 1959. She has other firsts to her credit as well. Born in 1905, she became the first first woman in her state to get a law degree.

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Fathima Beevi

Justice M. Fathima Beevi was the from woman from Muslim community to be appointed as higher judiciary when she became the first female from India to be appointed as the Supreme Court of India. Wait, there is more. She was also the first woman judge of a Supreme Court of a nation in Asia.

There have been many others who followed and have made the country proud with their judgments.

Below are the females who have thronged the highest posts In India:

Justice M Fathima Beevi (Kerala): Appointed judge of the Supreme Court on October 6, 1989, and retired on April 29, 1992.

Justice Sujata V Manohar (Maharashtra): Elevated to the Supreme Court on November 8, 1994, and retired on August on 27, 1999.

Justice Ruma Pal (West Bengal): Appointed on January 28, 2000 and retired on June 3, 2006.

Justice Gyan Sudha Misra (Bihar): Appointed to Supreme Court on April 30, 2010 and retired on April 27, 2014.

Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai: Appointed on September 13, 2011, and retired on October 29, 2014.

Justice Banumati (Tamil Nadu): Appointed to Supreme Court in August 2014.

Information Sources:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Justice-Banumathi-becomes-1st-woman-SC-judge-from-TN/articleshow/40221484.cms

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathima_Beevi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Chandy

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

I is for Inventor

Being a thinker and inventing something is another field women are not encouraged to step into. As always, some extraordinary women break all bonds and pursue their dreams.

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Dr Seema Prakash

It was in 2003, when Dr Seema Prakash made India proud when she grabbed the award as third among top 10 female inventors by Global Women Inventors and Innovators Network (GWIIN) in London. She Dr was felicitated for her Glass Bead Liquid Culture Technology (GBLCT).  GBLCT helps in cost-effective plant cloning, which would be beneficial for Indian farmers. Plant tissue culture technology allows production of true to the type (clones) that are disease free plants throughout the year, in relatively small spaces from selected superior mother plants/elite clone. 

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Rama Anand

At an age when people decide to retire and rest for the rest of their lives, Rama Anand strikean idea to get rid of her used car tires. She put them in better and eco-friendly use by transforming them into beautiful furniture. Yes! Here are some of her creations(Image Sources - http://www.the-south-asian.com/april2002/Rama_Anand-Tyre_furniture.htm and http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081011/jsp/personaltt/story_9951242.jsp):

                                                                          

Before someone puts a handkerchief on their nose, it must be learnt that no they are not smelly or dirty. The tires are first treated with chemicals to get rid of their rubber smell and washed several time to wipe of that dirt. 

What’s more? 

She has quite a number of recognition to her credit:

·         American Biographical Institute Inc. USA as "Woman Of The Year"2002

·         ITPO-IITF 2002"Excellence in Innovation"

·         Golden Peacock - Environmental Award 2003 as "Innovative products/Service Category"

·         GWIIN-Global Woman Inventors & Innovators UK as "Special Recognition Award" London 2003

·         President of India A.P.J Abdul Kalam presented the 2003 WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization Award.

Way to go ladies. We as Indians and above all being Women are all proud of you.

Information Sources

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bangalore-times/Bangalore-woman-among-top-10-global-inventors/articleshow/45142855.cms

http://www.gwiin.com/page.php?pid=18&menu=sub

http://www.indiamart.com/rainnovations-pvtltd/aboutus.html

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

H is for Hackers

Almost every one of us have heard or read about hackers. Hackers are around us in all forms – good and bad. Every second day, there is a story of another boy gaining expertise in Hacking. Among all techy guys, there are some girls who are giving tough competition to these guys.

Shruthi Kamnath and Approva Giri are heading “Infosec.in” - a community of women for women who are passionate about ‘Information Security’.

Shruthi Kamnath

Shruthi was always fascinated by hacking and thus without any doubt is a certified ethical hacker from EC council. She works at Infosys as a Security Analyst. She addressed more than 100 women police officers at c0c0n 2014.

Approva Giri

Approva also works as a security analyst at iViZ Security. With her interest in web and mobile security, she presented a workshop on “Cyber Security and Ethical Hacking for Women” at c0c0n 2014at Kochi, Kerala.

Both girls have certainly faced their own challenges in the field ruled by men, but they are determined to get more women into the field. They urge every female interedted in the information security field to join infosec and increase the girl gang!

Information/Image sources:

https://infosecgirls.in/about-us/

http://her.yourstory.com/apoorva-giri-infosecgirls-0401

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

G is for Guide

With the increasing number of crimes against women, the safety of women is one of the top concerns today. The world of tourism is also not spared. Every time there is another shocking incident, we get the news of some of the other country advising it's women to avoid travelling India.

Hundreds of links can be found on Google about travel tips to India for women. This fear has been subsided a bit with the entry of female guides. The percentage of female guides is still very low, but it is increasing on demand. Here is one of those adventurous women who help and guide travellers across the country.

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Thinlas Chorol

After being rejected by a number of travel organisers for the job of tracking guide, Thinlas went on to set up her own company called "Ladakhi Women's Travel Company".  It was the first company in Ladkah to be owned and operated by all women.

Thus, Thinlas is not only a guide, but a business woman as well who is empowering other women to stand on their feet. She also received the 21st Jankidevi Bajaj Puraskar for her efforts as an entrepreneur in the rural development.

There are  many more women like her who are making India proud.

Visit her website for more - 

http://www.ladakhiwomenstravel.com/index.htm

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

F is for F***: The Fearless Female Fire Fighters

I must confess in the very first line of this post that this was not my first choice for letter “F”. I originally wanted to write about “Fearless Female Fighter Pilots”. But to my utter dismay, India is still to get it’s “Female” fighter pilot. The reason I read about the same was even more disheartening and de-motivating.

 "As far as flying fighter planes is concerned, it's a very challenging job. Women are by nature not physically suited for flying fighters for long hours, especially when they are pregnant or have other health problems,'' said ACM Raha. Source

A major hindrance is that it takes over Rs 13 crore to train a single fighter pilot, with the huge investment being recovered over 13-14 years of active flying. "Women fighter pilots may get married; have children, disrupting our tight flying schedules. Fighter flying requires very high level of physical and mental fitness," said an officer. Source

As they say, “it’s all in the head”, the authorities and respected officers must give it a really deep thought. A simple, straight forward, yet an awesome blog post might help all – “women-fighter-pilots “.

Never the less, I was determined to find the female fighters and I stuck gold when I thought of one of the most under-rated respectable jobs – THE FIRE FIGHTERS.

The very first line of WIKIPEDIA about Women in Firefighting says – “Firefighting was formerly an all-male profession.” We need to re-read the third word. Read it loud and clear – “FORMERLY”.

Not wasting any more precious words, let’s meet some of the commendable ladies from our country.

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Meenakshi Vijayakumar joined the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services -- TNFRS -- as a divisional fire officer. She has many firsts and only to her credit.

 She is the only woman officer in field operations in India. She is one of the first woman fire officers in India, to qualify as the Divisional Fire Officer.

She is the first Indian fire officer to have won medals for India in the World Fire Fighters, held in Korea (2010) and Australia (2012).

She is the first Women Fire officer of India to have led an all men contingent in Republic Parade in Chennai Marina in 2005.

Information and Image Source

Image Source: Top Left, Top Right, Bottom

Priya Ravichandran, the present divisional fire officer, Central Chennai City was one of the first female fire officers in Tamil Nadu. Priya also lead the Republic Day parade Contingent for two succession years - 2008 and 2009. Information Source

She was also severely injured during one of her operations when a fire broke out in Kalasahal Heritage Structure. She received 40 percent of burns while she was leading a team of around 150 firefighters, 15 fire tenders, 30 water tenders and two sky lifts. Unfortunately, one of her firefighter had to bid adieu to world during this operations while one more received critical injuries and survived in the same operation. News Source

Image Sources: Pic1, Pic2(Top), Pic3(Bottom)

Harshini Kanhekar created history by taking admission in the only institution in India for fire services – National Fire Service College, Nagpur. She was the first ever female student and yes she had no idea about this fact. She graduated from the college in 2005 to become the ‘First Female Fire Engineer in India” and joined ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Commission) as a fire and security officer.

She has one of the best answers to the odd questions – “I don’t think there is anything ‘manly’ or ‘womanly’ about a job”. Her words should be written in gold and bold when she says – “It is a myth that women can’t take as much physical strain as men.”

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Fabulous Five at Mumbai Fire Brigade: Kavita Gurukul, Kanchan Rathod, Varsha Budhvant, Lata Rathod and NIrmala Ingle were appointed on Wadala Fire Station in Mumbai in January 2012 and became the first women fire fighters in the city.

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Century from Rajasthan: The Rajasthan government recruited 155 female fire fighters in current year (2015). According to Jaipur's Chief Fire Officer Dinesh Verma, “…if women are in the army and stationed at the border and are ready to fight our enemies, then they can surely be encouraged to fight fires." News and Image Source

Dear Ladies, please accept my sincere thanks and gratitude towards your commitment and dare to dream. The following image says it all – well done.

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This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

Update: Dream Come True - India has finally opened the doors for female fighter polits

E is for Engineer

Engineer – the word itself implants images of men with geek gadgets. While I tried very hard to find the women engineers from India, I could recall my own college days when the girls were obviously in fewer ratios than boys.

Whatever the statistics might say, Presence of women here as well cannot be ignored.

Image Source: Top, Bottom 2

Rocket Women - From Venus to Mars

The world famous “India's Mars Orbiter Mission” has around 500 talented engineers working day and night. While the domination of men could be seen clearly, the magnificent ladies could not be overlooked. Below are two of super mom's:

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Nandini Harinath - Deputy Operations Director of the Mars Orbiter Mission at Bangalore's ISRO

India did it again and big this time when Nandini Harinath was appointed as the Deputy Operations Director of the Mars Orbiter Mission at Bangalore's ISRO. This made me smile instantly. She did not have it easy and her words say it all – “"It is lot easier to raise children. Mars Orbiter Mission requires huge planning and it has been a huge learning experience for us. We have to plan for the nominal operations and we have to prepare for the contingencies. It has been exciting but it has also been extremely tough."”

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Minal Sampath - Systems Engineer

Sampath and her team of engineers built three of the instruments on board the space craft, and has aspirations of directing her own space center.  She says – “I said goodbye to Saturdays and holidays in the two years before the launch. We were working up to 18-hour days sometimes”. Minal send out a great message when she says – “You have to keep dreaming, to keep thinking of what you will achieve. It is only up to you. Only you yourself can tune your life”.

The list goes on and on, starting from engineers to scientists to researchers. Women have taken up a clearly visible and active role in India’s space program. We have proved to the world that yes it’s possible. The day is not far when stories like this would not be stories anymore and generations would say “So What!”.

While we are flying high in air and helping other do that, a fellow blogger went out to find the status of some female IITans out of curiosity. Check out thecomplete post here – Lokvani. Her finding made me even proud of myself as a woman. Below were her findings as on 2 December 2013

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 Dr. Parvati Dev (IIT KGP+ PHD) is the IIL's President and CEO. While, I am not sure about present, but she has also been a Principal Investigator at Stanford University School of Medicine as per the link - http://havnet.stanford.edu/people/parvati.html

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Vinita Gupta (IIT Roorkee + M.S. in electrical engineering from University of California Los Angeles) is founder and chairman of Digital Link Corporation (now Quick Eagle Networks). She is also known as the first woman of Indian.  Here is her Wiki Profile.

S. Sowmya(IIt Madras + A postgraduate in chemistry) – An outstanding Carnatic music singer check out her wiki profile

News Sources:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25989262

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/the-men-and-women-behind-indias-mars-mission-671979

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

D is for Doctor and Daughter

There was a time when women were not allowed to receive education. This did not happen only in India, but the scenario was quite similar around the world. The time changed gradually but at a slow pace.  Some women did get education, but then there was a long way to go.

Doctor is another profession which requires great dedication and time during and after the studies. There came a ray of hope during 19^th century in the form of WMCP (Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania)-The first women medical college in world way back in 1850.

Coming to India, when we go to a hospital or clinic, a lady doctor or nurse is ready to examine us. But the fact was not so simple during 19^th century. The ever conservative culture prevented many women to go to doctors because they would shy away from being touched by another man.

The history started new turn as Anandibai was born to an orthodox family in Maharashtra. Like any normal girl at that time, she was married at the tender age of 9 years to a 20 year old man named Gopalrao Joshi. The future had something else in store for her. Gopalrao, her husband surprisingly believed in education and took her education upon him. Being a child herself, Anandibai gave birth to a boy who survived only ten days due to lack of medical facilities. Thus she was inspired to become a physician herself.

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With the help of her husband Gopalrao and her strong determination, she was admitted to the medical program at WMCP. Despite of her inability to cope with climate changes and contraction of tuberculosis, she completed her studies and graduated as a MD on 11 March 1886.

She soon returned to India and was truly acknowledged for her efforts. Thus, she became the first ever Indian Woman to obtain a degree in western medicine. She could not complete her dream of practise as she died very next year on 26 Feb 1987.

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While I close this post, there is one more name which cannot be missed - Kadambini Ganguly. I found several links which said she was the India’s first lady doctor. Various records state that she was among the first two female graduates from India and the entire British Empire in 1986.

I consider both of them as the true “Daughter of India” who opened the gate to all aspiring and much needed girls in the field of medicine. The smart, polite and highly qualified ladies we lend ourselves safely to could not have been there or would be still struggling if Anandibai and Kadambini Ganguly did not dare to dream.

Information sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadambini_Ganguly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anandi_Gopal_Joshi

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

C is for Criminal

Women who are known for their demure nature also have another side just like men. While maximum percent of prisons have male inmates, there are some women who are not lagging behind their opposite sex when it comes to crime.

There are several Indian women against whom Interpol has issued Red Corner notices. 

Below are some of the wanted pretty faces;

1. Faces of Terror - Reshma Menon and Shabana Menon

Reshma Menon the wife of Indian gangster Tiger Memon and Shabana Menon wife of Ayub Menon have alleged involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

  

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 They are popularly known as the loyal wives who stood beside their husbands in almost all criminal activities. A Red-corner notice was issued by the Interpol against Reshma and Shabana and Rs 25,000 reward was announced by the Mumbai police. Both ladies are suspected to be in Pakistan with their husbands.

2. The Dons - Anusuyia and Santoshi Bai

Externed from Mahakaushal region in Madhya Pradesh, there are two women who had emerged fiercer and bolder than their male counterparts.

Anusuyia at the age of 38 was hauled up 19 times before court for the same offence of illicit liquor. What's more surprising is the fact that she believes this "Tadipar" order would help her to establish more in male dominating society.

Santoshi Bai - another habitual offender is accused of human trafficking.

3. Khoon Bhare Hath - The Murderers

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Obviously the "Bandit Queen" aka Phoolan Devi shot more than 20 men to avenge her gang rape. She surrendered before re authorities in 1983 on her own terms. She even managed to win elections and was serving the government and country when she was assassinated in 1993.

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There can nothing be more daunting than a woman killing children brutally. Popularly known as ‘Sinister sisters’, Seema Mohan Gavit and Renuka Shinde are waiting for their death sentence as Supreme Court confirms same on 31 August 2006. Both are accused of kidnapping 13 and murdering nine children all aged between 1.5 to 4 years. They kidnapped the innocent souls to demand ransom and use them as props for their thefts and begging. All children were killed when either they cried non-stop or became too big to carry. Google and read on the way they killed the children - only if you have strong heart.

4. Insane Lover – Dr. Omana Edadan

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We believe that education makes better human beings. What do we believe into when the symbol of god itself - a doctor, well-educated takes life into its own hands.

Omana is wanted in the shocking case for the murder of her lover Muralidharan (who she confessed was drifting away from her) in 1996. With detailed precision in surgery, she dismembered him and cut hid bones into several pieces. She was careful enough to pack his flesh and bones in separate plastic bags. It is said she took her own sweet time to complete the procedure – around three months. The lady love was arrested while trying to get rid of one of the bags and has been on run after she jumped her bail in 2001.

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links

B is for Business

Business is another field which has been dominated by significantly large male population. Whenever a girl decides to take up business as a career, generally, she has to face many challenges right from her own house. Most middle class population plead their daughters to go on the adventurous journey after their marriage! Above all, it's been thought that Business need more time and dedication and thus many aspiring ladies shy away from it owing to their family commitments.
This general mentality has not stopped thousands of women from being their own boss. Not only their own boss, many of them are bosses to thousands and giving others opportunity to stand on their own feet.

P. Sridevi


Born and brought up in conservative South Indian Family, Sridevi ate the forbidden fruit of 'Dare to Dream' and not only supported her own family during crisis but went on to set up her own production house. Her all women organisation has more than 60 women who make and sell eco-friendly products to prestigious Mother Earth brand. Yes! saw that showroom in the nearby mall? Now I have an idea from where some of it's beautiful products come from.

Mahananda


 Victim of "Child Marriage" and "Flesh Trade (Devadasi)", Mahananda has emerged stronger than ever. Her determination to come of of never ending crisis helped her land in right place and with the help of micro-loan funded by Milaap, started her own sewing business. Currently, she is working hard to help other women like herself to start a new beginning.

There are many more inspiring ladies from Rural India itself whose stories would make anyone go week in their knees.

A simple search on Google with the phrase "Business women in India" would give eye opening results and prove that the farer sex is not a step behind when it comes to brains, corporates, education and being the BOSS.

Check out the link to discover the big list - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_businesswomen

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links

A is for Athlete

Girls are taught to be gentle and demure from very childhood.  Some of the common remarks are:

“Girls do not jump around.”

“Dolls and Utensils are a girl’s best toys.”

“Punching and bouncing do not belong to girls.”.

“Wrestling/Cricket/Weight Lifting/Body Building is not a girl’s game.”

There are some women who choose to break all rules and make new standards. They have conquered and made a mark for themselves in the world dominated and most sought by men. It's a bit ironical that most of their followers are men themselves. Name a sport and there is a world champion for that from India. These super-women are making us proud without any doubt.

Here are some of the most famous ones, without which the Indian sports authority cannot move ahead with pride.

Sania Mirza

Saina Nehwal

Jwala gutta

Mary com

Pt Usha

Ashwani ponnappa 

Anju Bobby George

Deepika Pillai

Santhi Soundararajan

Krishna poonia 

There are many more I found whose name I had not even heard about - too bad for me.

The more comprehensive list may be found at - http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_sportswomen

I cannot miss this - the recent World Cup win by Indian Female Hockey Team.

Indian women's hockey team lifted the Hero Hockey World League Round 2 defeating Poland 3-1 in a high-intensity final at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Sunday.

News source - 

Image Sources:

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050213/ind2.jpg

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01140/09TH_SAINA13_1140198g.jpg

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060819/ind1.jpg

http://www.deccanherald.com/images/front_page_images/28974_thump.jpg

http://www.imsocio.com/system/data/627/show/mary-kom-sports-day.png

http://www.iosindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Krishna-Poonia.jpg

http://dd508hmafkqws.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/indian%20womens%20hockey%20team.jpg

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01729/TH24_WOMEN_1729959f.jpg

http://static.ibnlive.in.com/ibnlive/pix/sitepix/11_2009/tania-sachdev-charity-313.jpg

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.