1. Neerja Bhanot:
Born in a typical Indian Middle class family, Neerja got married when she was 21 years old but got seperated from her husband due to dowry issue. She then applied to be an flight attendant with Pan Am.
On September 5 1986, the flight Pan Am Flight 73 from Mumbai to JKF New York had made a stop at Karachi Airport and was preparing to depart when 4 heavily armed Palestinians belonging to Abu Nidal Organization stormed and hijacked the Airplane. They were looking for Americans on board the flight. Neerja and her co-attendants hid the passports of the Americans to protect them against grave personal peril. 17 hours later, the terrorists opened fire and set off explosives as everyone started rushing out from Emergency exit when suddenly opened by Neerja Bhanot, allowing many passengers to escape. She decided not to jump out first and prioritized to make sure the passengers escaped. While shielding 3 children from a hail of bullets, she took the shot and succumbed to her death at a age of 22
Posthumously, she was hailed as the “Heroine” for saving innocent lives, and becomes the youngest and the only female recipient of Ashoka Chakra.
She was also awarded:
Heroism Award, (Awarded for showing incredible human kindness), , ’s office for the – Special Courage award, US Govt.
– Indian Civil Aviation Ministry’s Award.
2. Kiran Bedi:
Being the first woman to join the Indian Police Service, she also became the highest-ranking woman official in the nation’s history, changing the dynamics of power in the force. From being a tennis champion to a top police officer to a woman who fights selflessly for the greater good, 62-year-old social activist Kiran Bedi has stepped beyond the traditional role of the perfect wife and mother and set a benchmark of courage for women in a deeply patriarchal society. Her humane and fearless approach has contributed greatly to innumerable innovative policing and prison reforms. She not only introduced a “Godly approach to jail inmates” with the introduction of Yoga, Meditation and discourses by various sections of religious groups to inculcate spirituality and human values among-st the under trials and convicts.
– She began her career as a Lecturer in Political Science (1970–72) at Khalsa College for Women, Amritsar. In July 1972, she joined the Indian Police Service, becoming the first woman to do so. Bedi joined the police service “because of her urge to be outstanding”
3. Mary Kom:
At a tender age of 18, Mary made her debut at the first Women World Boxing Championship, after just one year of starting to learn boxing, which was held at Pennsylvania, USA. At her debut event itself, she won a silver medal in the 46 kg weight category .A year later, she went on to win the gold at the second Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA) World Women’s Senior Boxing Championship. held at Antalya, Turkey.
She got married in 2005 after 4 years of dating with K Onler Kom. Mother of Twins. She is Five time world champion, The only female boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships.
Kom started winning early on and won her first silver in 2001. She went on to win Gold medals at the World Amateur Boxing Championship and also won gold at the 2003 Asian Games. She won the Witch Cup in the year 2002.
4. Irom Chanu Sharmila:
She is also known as Iron Lady of Manipur. She has been on hunger strike since year 2000. She is demanding removal of Armed Force Act from north-east states of India. Irom Chanu Sharmila is a civil rights activist, political activist, and poet from the Indian state of Manipur. On 2 November 2000,she began a hunger strike which is still ongoing. Having refused food and water for more than 500 weeks, she has been called “the world’s longest hunger striker”.On International Women’s Day, 2014 she was voted the top woman icon of India by MSN Poll.
5. Kalpana Chawla:
She was the first Indian American astronaut and first Indian woman in space. Kalpana Chawla first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. In 2003, Chawla was one of seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster.
6. Mother Teresa:
Mother Teresa was born on August 27, 1910, in Skopje, Yugoslavia. She died in 1997, in Calcutta, India. Her parents were Nikola and Dronda Bojaxhiu. She was known as the friend to the friendless or sister to the poor. Mother Teresa dedicated her life to helping the poor, the sick, and the dying around the world, particularly those in India. She inspired millions with her absolute devotion to the worlds disposed. Mother Teresa’s real name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, but as a nun she changed her name of course to Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa was a Roman nun. While being a nun she lived in a convent. Later she left the convent because she felt a call within to go out and help the poor while living among them. She joined a religious order at the age of 28.
– In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
– In 1971 Pope Paul Vl honored Mother Teresa by awarding her the first Pope John XXlll Peace Prize.
– She was also awarded for International Understanding.
– In 1991 there were 168 of her homes operating in India.
– In April 1997 a movie was filmed called “Mother Teresa.”
– Mother Teresa accepted all these awards because of the poor.
Mother Teresa Suffered Through Many Things:
– When she visiting Pope John Paul she suffered a heart attack.
– In 1989 she had a near fatal heart attack again and started wearing a pacemaker.
– In 1950, Mother Teresa founded the Order of the Missionaries of Charity.
– When she did things that people thought would help their dying, they used her idea. One of her missions attracted several followers. Today over 90 countries use some of her ideas.