Inspiring Indian Women: Bhakti Sharma, Sampat Pal Devi and Tessy Thomas

In the series, “Inspiring Indian Women”, Adda247 is coming up with inspiring stories of amazing women who made names for themselves and fire the dreams of a zillion sanguine women. Since time immemorial, women have not only made the world proud by their remarkable achievements but have also inspired other women to chase their dreams until they come true. Their intense focus and dedication to their individual endeavours took them to the top of their games which help other women to believe that they all have the potential to achieve everything they want to. They changed the rules forever by going through all the trials and tribulations and eventually overcoming all the odds by cutting through all the impediments that came through their ways. Today, we will discuss the inspiring stories of Bhakti Sharma, Sampat Pal Devi and Tessy Thomas.

Bhakti Sharma

Bhakti Sharma is the first Asian woman and the youngest in the world to set a record in open swimming in Antarctic waters. Sharma swam 1.4 miles in 41.14 minutes, at a temperature of 1 °C (34 °F), breaking the record of Lynne Cox (USA) and Lewis Pugh (Great Britain). When she began to swim in the open sea, she had many challenges to encounter like fluctuating water, strong currents and non-linear paths. She was also stuck at one spot for about two hours during her solo swim in the English Channel. Nonetheless, she continued to work hard to get where she is.

Sampat Pal Devi

Sampat Pal is an Indian social activist from the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, North India. She is founder of the Gulabi Gang, an Uttar Pradesh-based social organisation, works for women welfare and empowerment. She stood against abusive husbands when she was just 16 years old. When she witnessed her neighbour’s husband beating her, she was enraged and encouraged other women to beat the man till he publically apologized to his wife. Her team doesn’t discriminate against gender as they have also spoken up against human rights and male oppression.

Tessy Thomas

Tessy Thomas is an Indian scientist and Director General of Aeronautical Systems and the former Project Director for Agni-IV missile in Defence Research and Development Organisation. She is the first woman scientist to head a missile project in India. She was fascinated with the rockets since childhood as she grew up next to a Missile launching station. The incident that changed her entire life was her appointment by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for Agni-III missile project after she completed her M. Tech. from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). And now, she is also known as the ‘Missile Woman’ of India.