The year 1936 when the flying was like dream, flying in air was like miracle. There were only male in the cockpit of the airplane. At that time one lady entered the cockpit of a Gypsy Moth and flew into the blue skies, and made a history as India’s first lady pilot.

The dashing, courageous, Sarla Thakral. She was only 21 year old when she achieved that sky. She had a four-year-old daughter. After obtaining the initial licence, she persevered on and completed one thousand hours of flying in the aircraft owned by the Lahore Flying Club. Her husband P. D. Sharma comes from a family which had 9 pilots, encouraged her to achieve it. She was the first Indian to get airmail pilot’s licence and flew between Karachi and Lahore.

Sarla Thakral, a 21-year-old married woman with a four-year-old daughter, soared into the sky. Sarla’s flight into the firmament landed her a place in history. She became the first Indian woman to fly. Sarla’s husband and her father-in-law helped her achieve the ambition.

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Her first husband was a pilot. After she got married to him at 16 she was blessed with a daughter. Her husband was the first Indian to get airmail pilot’s licence and flew between Karachi and Lahore. When she completed her required flying hours, the instructor wanted her to fly solo. Once she took off, there was no looking back. After her first husband died in a crash in 1939, she went to Jodhpur to get a commercial pilot’s licence. Unfortunately World War II broke out and flying was suspended. Sarla, also known as Mati, became a successful businesswoman, painter and began designing clothes and costume jewellery.

A dedicated follower of the Arya Samaj sect, she was remarried to PP Thakral, when she moved to Delhi after the Partition. She dabbled in designing costume jewellery, and also supplied it to Cottage Emporium for 15 years.She died in 2009

Source : Tribuneindia, Wikipedia,

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