A woman of many firsts! Dr Sivaramakrishna Iyer Padmavati was the first woman cardiologist in India. She established the first cardiac clinic and cardiac catheter lab in India, and founded India’s first heart foundation. Being a legendary cardiologist, she has left behind an enduring legacy in her field.

Padmavati was born in Burma (now Myanmar) on 20 June 1917 to a barrister father. She excelled in school and earned the first medical degree awarded to a female student at Rangoon Medical College. Just after she completed her medical studies, Japan invaded Burma at the height of World War II, and she along with her mother and sisters had to flee the country and settle in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. She was eventually reunited with her father and brothers when World War II ended.

Later, Padmavati went to England to pursue her higher studies in medicine where she worked at the National Heart Hospital and National Chest Hospital in London. She received the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in London in 1949. During this period, she developed an interest in cardiology, which remained her first love throughout her life.

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Have you ever heard about a young woman who is as brave as a lion? This heroic and awe-inspiring woman is Rasila Wadher. After the untimely death of her father, her mother laboured hard to feed and educate Rasila and her younger brother in Bhanduri village of Junagadh district of Gujarat. After completing her graduation in Hindi, Rasila struggled to find a job to support her poor family.

Even though no females were selected for the post of forest guard at the time, Rasila took a risk in applying for the position. Since she was good at sports, she cleared the physical tests. In 2007, the 21-year-old was appointed as the first female forest guard at Gir National Park (Sasan Gir Forest), the last abode of the Asiatic lion.

Being a young woman, all she was given was desk work at the office. Rasila decided to prove that women were no less than men. “I decided that being a woman, I needed to work like a man. And if I work like a man, no one will doubt me.” Her biggest fear was not of fierce animals, but of being removed from the team because of being the only female.

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Meet Arunima Sinha, the mountaineer whose determination can only be gauged as higher than Mount Everest. Her hair-raising story is not just a story of determination of the highest level but one of a sublime level which may serve as an inspiration for all and yet may be impossible to emulate.

Determination must have been in her blood as Arunima was born in the family of an Army engineer on 20 July 1989. I guess her early life must have been one of hardships and struggles as she lost her father at a very young age, and the family consisted of four children. Being a resident of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Arunima had her schooling in the Government Girls’ Inter College of her hometown. Her hobbies were gardening, sketching, yoga, travelling and listening to music. She also liked football, while distinguishing herself as a national level volleyball player. She has participated in the Nationals, seven times.

Aspiring to join one of the para-military forces, on 12 April 2011, Arunima Sinha boarded the Padmavati Express on her way to Delhi to appear for her CISF examination. Little did she then know that her life was about to take a turn for something that neither she nor anyone could have ever foreseen. A gang of robbers tried to rob the passengers of the General Compartment in which Arunima was travelling. Arunima resisted when the hooligans tried to snatch her necklace but she was outnumbered and was pushed out of the train. She fell on the rail tracks and was unable to move and all that she remembers is that another train on the adjoining track ran over her left leg. She recalls: “I resisted the robbers, but they pushed me out of the train. I could not move. I only remember another train coming towards me. I tried getting up. But by then, the train had run over my leg. I don’t remember anything after that.”

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