Glorious flight

Face-to-face with Sarla Thukral, India's first woman pilot

In 1936, after barely nine hours of flying, 21-year-old Sarla was ready to go solo. Wearing a sari and a helmet, she sat in the cockpit of the Gypsy Moth, a two- seater aircraft, and flew into the history books as the first Indian woman pilot.

Flying for a woman was a very revolutionary step in those days, says Sarla Thukral. But flying seemed to come naturally to her. The family of her husband, P. D. Sharma, had nine pilots.

Sharma was one of the first Indian pilots who got his licence in 1929. Before 1929 Indians were not allowed to the flying clubs by the ruling British dispensation. It was her father-in-law who got Sarla enrolled in a flying club.

In those days one could fly an aircraft for as much as Rs 30," says Sarla. Having got her A group licence Sarla's featured regularly in the papers as a woman achiever.

But then tragedy struck: her husband died in an air crash. Sarla could not train to obtain her B group licence which would give her a commercial pilot's licence.

However, she enrolled in the National School of Arts at Lahore. After Partition, she shifted to Delhi from where she pursued a successful painting career. Her beautiful paintings - all oil on canvas - have been exhibited in several art galleries around the country. Sarla has also experimented with costume jewellery designing.

Her creativity inspired her to create such beautiful designs that in a matter of a few years she had established herself as a successful jewellery designer. "I would supply the jewellery design to several cottage industries. I did this for over 20 years".