Google celebrates India’s first woman pilot Sarla Thukral birthday with Doodle

Google celebrated India’s first women pilot, designer, and entrepreneur Sarla Thukral on her 107th birthday today

Google celebrated India’s first women pilot, designer, and entrepreneur Sarla Thukral on her 107th birthday today. The illustration of Thukral was created by guest artist Vrinda Zaveri. The technology giant 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.

All about Sarla Thukral

Sarla Thukral was born in Delhi, British India, on August 8, 1914. She later moved to Lahore, presently Pakistan. Thukral was inspired by her husband, who was an airmail pilot from a family of fliers, and she began training to follow in their footsteps. At the age of 21, dressed in traditional saree, Sarla Thukral stepped into the cockpit of a small double-winged plane for her first solo flight. Lifting the craft into the sky is how Sarla made it to history. Newspapers and media soon spread the news saying skies are no longer meant for men only.

But it did not stop there. There was more to Thukral’s groundbreaking ascent. She completed 1,000 hours of flight time to gain her A licence, another first for Indian women as a student of the Lahore Flying Club. Thukral later on started preparation for becoming a commercial pilot, but due to the outbreak of World War II, the civil aviation training came to a halt. Thukral, 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, Thukral’s soaring achievements have paved the way for generations of women in India to turn their dreams of becoming a pilot into reality.