11 Women who made India proud

God created woman another way. Though she was physically inferior to men, she possessed unteachable efficiency, creativity and magnetism. From time to time, women have reminded this to the second world (male dominant). Unfortunately, in developing countries, a woman is still dragged behind by her male counterpart if she comes across as independent and strong. India is one of such countries, where life for women is not easy. This blog-post remembers and salutes those women who made India proud, irrespective of challenges they faced and set examples for aspiring women.

Bhikaiji Cama (1861-1936) - She is mentioned in history as a prominent figure of the earlier independence movement, encouraging gender equality. She developed ‘Flag of Indian Independence’, which eventually inspired current national flag of India. 

Mother Teresa (1910-1997) - By blood, she was Albanian and by citizenship, an Indian. For over 45 years, she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, throughout India. When she received Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she refused the formal banquet and asked $192,000 funds be given to the poor of India. 

Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941) - Still the most expensive woman painter of India, Amrita Sher-Gil was one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Besides remaining a muse to contemporary Indian artists, she also became the inspiration point for famous Urdu play, Tumhari Amrita, starring Shabana Azmi. 

Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) - I remember my mother telling me how desperate state of women in India was before Indira Gandhi came into the power. With becoming Nation’s first woman prime minister and the world's second longest serving female Prime Minister, she made it clear that women too can do well in male dominant Indian Politics. 

Amrita Pritam (1919-2005) - The first prominent woman Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist, Amrita Pritam was equally loved in India and Pakistan. Her most remembered poignant poem, Aj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu restrained her anguish over massacres during the partition of India. In over six decades-long writing career, she penned 28 novels, 18 anthologies of prose, five short stories and 16 prose volumes.

 1- Bhikaiji Cama, 2- Mother Teresa, 3- Amrita Sher-Gil, 4- Indira Gandhi, 5- Amrita Pritam, 6- Lata Mangeshkar,
 7- Kiran Bedi, 8- Chanda Kochhar, 9- Arudhati Roy, 10- Madhuri Dixit , 11- Saina Nehwal

Lata Mangeshkar (1929) – I don’t know, how many like me worship her as Goddess of Indian Music. One can certainly not imagine the Indian Cinema without her forever young playback singing. Madhubala to Madhuri Dixit, with her voice, every actress looked, even more, prettier on the silver screen. Since 1942, she has been singing and surprisingly, every year her voice gets younger. 

Kiran Bedi (1949) - With becoming first female ISP officer, Kiran Bedi made India, especially women proud. She has been representing India at United Nations and worked as Police Adviser to the Secretary General of the United Nations in the Department of Peacekeeping operations. After her retirement, she has been making news headlines as a social activist. 

Chanda Kochhar (1961) – She justified a saying that women are more efficient managers than men. She brought an age of women-CEOs in Indian Corporate, followed by Indra Nooyi and Shikha Sharma. Her charismatic leadership skills made ICICI Bank, India's largest private bank. Besides holding MD and CEO positions, Kochhar is also heading the Corporate Centre of ICICI Bank. 

Arundhati Roy (1961) – Despite being controversial for her writings on various social, environmental and political issues, no one can ignore Arundhati Roy’s contribution on bringing Indian novel writing on the international front. With winning Booker Prize for The God of Small Things, Arundhati inspired numerous struggling Indian writers to get back to English. 

Madhuri Dixit (1967) - Amazing actress, dancer and mesmerizing beauty. For 7- 8 years, she ruled Indian film Industry. Directors started writing scripts, keeping her in mind; films started doing well at Box-office in the name of Madhuri Dixit. With Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon, she became first Indian artiste, whose name appears in a movie title.  

Saina Nehwal (1990) - With her uphill struggle, dedication and talent, Saina has been ranked number three in the world by Badminton World Federation. Needless to say, achieving this much at an age of 22 is truly inspirational. She is the first woman who had made it to the singles quarterfinals in Olympics and first Indian to win Super Series Tournament in 2009.