inspiring women

Punjab-based Harwinder Kaur wasn't one to let her height get in the way of achieving her big dreams. Watch her inspiring story here.

Sirisha Bandla is the second Indian-origin woman to head to space as part of Richard Branson's Virgin Glactic crew on VSS Unity. Her paternal grandfather, Ragaiah Bandla (85), tells us about Sirisha's childhood and visits to India.

Like Kerala's 22-year-old Vismaya, Noujisha A too was a victim of domestic violence in abusive marriage. What she has to say about what she went through is something we all need to hear.

Indumaty Barve, Usha Manerika, Jayashree Samant and Shubhada Kothawale came together in 1991 to form the Shramik Mahila Vikas Sangh to help underprivileged women and single mothers become financially independent

P K Rosy, Malayalam cinema's first woman actor and Indian cinema's first dalit actress, attracted the fury of many caste Hindus, who forced her to flee her state when she essayed the role of an upper-caste woman in Vigathakumaran, the first Malayalam feature film. She received recognition for her fearless work decades later, particularly in 2019, when the Women in Cinema Collective named their film society after her.

The month-long sting operation brought to light some spine-chilling tales.

"They do not have control over their own bodies, earnings, and lives. Instead, somebody else controls them...Dalit women are bearing the burden of double-day caste and the division of labor based on sex." #IndianWomenInHistory

"My daughter Laddu is my inspiration because I want to become her inspiration someday," says Mamatha Sanathkumar, the homemaker-turned-bodybuilder who was once excommunicated by her family. Today, she proudly takes the centre stage as a winner — her husband and daughter applauding her victory!

"Pushpa ma’am is like a Goddess to us. She understands that my boy is smart but because of his condition, he speaks slowly", says a grateful parent of a student with cerebral palsy about the amazing woman who won the Nari Shakti Puraskar 2018.

“Since I have over 48,000 followers on Facebook, if every one of them contributes just one rupee, I have enough funds to change a person’s life!” says Dr Shinu Syamalan, who started the initiative as a birthday celebration!