Google honours India’s first woman pilot Sarla Thukral

The technology giant had honoured Sarla Thukral on her birthday last year with the same endearing Doodle. Thukral left such a lasting legacy for women in aviation that we decided to run the Doodle this year in honour of her 107th birthday.

Hyderabad: Google Doodle celebrated India’s first woman pilot, designer, and entrepreneur Sarla Thukral on her 107th birthday today. Illustrated by guest artist Vrinda Zaveri, the doodle shows a woman in her flight in the midst of the clouds.

The technology giant had honoured Sarla Thukral on her birthday last year with the same endearing Doodle. Thukral left such a lasting legacy for women in aviation that we decided to run the Doodle this year in honour of her 107th birthday, wrote the Google Doodle page.

---

Sarla Thukral was born in Delhi, British India, on August 8, 1914. She later moved to Lahore, presently in Pakistan. Sarla was inspired by her husband, who was an airmail pilot from a family of fliers, and she began training to follow in their footsteps.

Having been dressed in a traditional sari, at the age of 21, Sarla stepped into the cockpit of a small double-winged plane for her first solo flight. She then made it to history by gearing up to ride close to the clouds and media soon spread the news saying skies are no longer meant for men only.

Sarla didn’t just stop there and after the groundbreaking ascent, she completed 1000 hours of flight time to gain her A licence. She also became the first Indian women as a student of the Lahore Flying Club. She later started preparation for becoming a commercial pilot, but due to the outbreak of World War II, the civil aviation training came to a halt.

Sarla 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 built a successful career in designing jewelry and clothing.

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