Sarla Thukral: Google Doodle honours first Indian woman pilot on her 107th birth anniversary

Today’s Google Doodle honours Sarla Thukral, the first Indian woman to pilot an aircraft in the country, on her 107th birth anniversary. As the first woman pilot in India, Thukral inspired several women to take up flying over the years. Here’s everything you need to know about her life.

Sarla Thukral was born in Delhi in 1914, during the time when India was a British colony and later moved to Lahore, which is in present-day Pakistan now. She wasn’t the first pilot in her family – her husband was an airmail pilot, and he came from a family of fliers, according to the company. In an iconic achievement for the time she lived in, Thukral took flight for the first time after gaining her licence in 1936.