Google celebrates India’s initial lady pilot Sarla Thukral birthday with Doodle

Google celebrated India’s initial females pilot, designer, and entrepreneur Sarla Thukral on her 107th birthday today. The illustration of Thukral was made by guest artist Vrinda Zaveri. The technologies giant honoured Sarla Thukral on her birthday last year with the very same endearing Doodle. Thukral left such a lasting legacy for females in aviation that we decided to run the Doodle this year in honour of her 107th birthday, wrote the Google Doodle web page.

All about Sarla Thukral

Sarla Thukral was born in Delhi, British India, on August 8, 1914. She later moved to Lahore, presently Pakistan. Thukral was inspired by her husband, who was an airmail pilot from a family of fliers, and she started coaching to stick to in their footsteps. At the age of 21, dressed in regular saree, Sarla Thukral stepped into the cockpit of a modest double-winged plane for her initial solo flight. Lifting the craft into the sky is how Sarla made it to history. Newspapers and media quickly spread the news saying skies are no longer meant for guys only.

But it did not quit there. There was more to Thukral’s groundbreaking ascent. She completed 1,000 hours of flight time to obtain her A licence, yet another initial for Indian females as a student of the Lahore Flying Club. Thukral later on began preparation for becoming a industrial pilot, but due to the outbreak of World War II, the civil aviation coaching came to a halt. Thukral, then, studied fine art and painting at Lahore’s Mayo School of Arts (now the National College of Arts). She later on returned to Delhi and continued with painting and constructed a productive profession in designing jewelry and clothes.

Thereafter, Thukral’s soaring achievements have paved the way for generations of females in India to turn their dreams of becoming a pilot into reality.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz