KC Rekha

In Kerala, the sea was long reserved for men. KC Rekha defied stigma, picked up the nets, and became India’s first licensed woman deep-sea fisher.

Venturing into the deep and rough waters of Arabian Sea on a 20-year-old single-engine boat, 45-year-old 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.