Famous Women’s In India Ever

India too has its own pool of such bold and fearless women who have made a mark for themselves both within the country as well as overseas. Their relentless zeal, incessant quench for success and willingness to walk the extra mile have broken all myths about their inborn limitations that were supposed to be major roadblocks on their success expressway. Their passion for work, their experience on the job and the change they have wrought has taken them to the top of their game. They are changing the rules every day. From Jhansi ki rani to Irom Sharmila, Indian women have always stood up for their rights and fought their battles despite restrictions and limitations. They are the shining beacons of hope and have displayed exemplary dedication in their respective fields. Let’s meet 15 such Famous Indian women who can be easily termed as role models for every Indian- both males and females:

List of Famous Female Personalities In India

1. Chanda Kochhar

    

   Chanda Kochhar

   Source-:Rediff.com 

   In 2009 she became the youngest CEO and first woman to head ICICI Bank, the second-largest lender in India. She oversees assets of 93 billion dollars, more than 2,750 branches in India and the bank’s presence in 19 countries. Under her leadership, ICICI was declared the best retail bank in India for 5 consecutive years. She has today become an inspiration for every working woman in the country, setting a perfect example of juggling between family and profession.
   Born: 17 November 1961
   Spouse: Deepak Kochhar
   Parents: Roopchand Advani
   Education: Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Jai Hind College
   Nominations: CNN-IBN Indian of the Year in Business

2. Kalpana Chawla

    

   Kalpana Chawla

   Source-:TechStory 

   Kalpana Chawla was an Indian-American astronaut who was a mission specialist on the space shuttle Columbia. Kalpana Chawla joined the NASA ‘Astronaut Corps’ in March 1995 and was selected for her first flight in 1996. She first flew on the Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. She was the first Indian-born woman and the second Indian after Rakesh Sharma to fly to the moon. It was a great tragedy that India lost one of her famous daughter in the space shuttle disaster. She was just 42.
   Born: 17 March 1962
   Died: 1 February 2003
   Space missions: STS-107, STS-87
   Spouse: Jean-Pierre Harrison
   Awards: NASA Distinguished Service Medal, Congressional Space Medal of Honor, NASA Space Flight Medal
   Education: Punjab Engineering College, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Colorado at Boulder

3. Indra Nooyi

    

   Indra Nooyi

   Source-:Storypick 

   Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi is an Indian-born American business executive currently serving as the chairperson and chief executive officer at PepsiCo, one of the largest food and beverage businesses in the world. Nooyi is one of the top female executives in the United States and is consistently ranked among the world’s 100 most powerful women. Known to be a highly innovative, energetic and hard working person, Nooyi has risen to become one of the top most female executives in the world from a modest beginning. Born into a middle-class family in Chennai, Nooyi has always been someone who refused to adhere to the conservative norms of the society. A brilliant student, she completed her MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta and worked with Johnson & Johnson. Then she proceeded to the Yale School of Management to further her education and worked with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri. She gained much prominence as a strategist and received job offers from several prestigious companies including General Electric and PepsiCo. She chooses to join PepsiCo in 1994 and quickly rose up the ranks to name its CEO in 2006.
   Born: 28 October 1955
   Spouse: Raj K. Nooyi
   Education: Madras Christian College, IIM Calcutta, Yale School of Management
   Awards: Padma Bhushan, CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Global Indian
   Siblings: Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon, Narayan Krishnamurthy

4. Mary Kom

    

   Mary Kom

   Source-:Thefamouspeople.com 

   Chungnejiang Mery Kom Hmangte, better known as Mery Kom, is an Indian boxer. Initially, Mary’s sports career began in order to help provide financial support to her family, living in Manipur. From a small tribal village in Manipur, Mary Kom got national and international fame and was honored with the Padma Bhushan and Arjuna Award for her glorious achievements, including an Olympic bronze and Asian Games gold medal. She never let motherhood hinder her passion for boxing. She is a five-time world amateur boxing champion.
   Born: 1 March 1983
   Spouse: K Onler Kom
   Awards: Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Arjuna Award for Boxing
   Olympic medal: Boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women’s flyweight

5. Saina Nehwal

    

   Saina Nehwal

   Source-:Sportskeeda 

   Saina Nehwal is the first women in India’s sporting history to reach the World No1 rank in Badminton. She is the first Indian woman to win the world Junior Badminton Championship. Saina was first encouraged to play badminton by her father and mother, she started at the young age of 8 and quickly went on to win titles on national and international levels. Saina’s first championship win was at the Czechoslovakia Junior Open in 2003. She’s only 24. Yet she’s the first Indian woman to win a medal in badminton at the Olympics. She has also been awarded the prestigious Arjuna award in August 2009 and India’s highest sporting award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in August 2010.
   Born: 17 March 1990
   Awards: Padma Bhushan, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Padma Shri
   Olympic medal: Badminton at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women’s singles
   Parents: Harvir Singh Nehwal, Usha Nehwal

6. Indira Gandhi

    

   Indira Gandhi

   Source-:Cultural India 

   Indira Gandhi was the second female head of government in the world after Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, and she remains as the world’s second longest serving female Prime Minister as of 2012. She was the first woman to become prime minister in India. She was also the only Indian Prime Minister to have declared a state of emergency in order to ‘rule by decree’ and the only Indian Prime Minister to have been imprisoned after holding that office. She was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for ordering Operation Blue Star. She has been our greatest woman politician ever. There were many great achievements in her name, most famous one being the victory against Pakistan in 1971 war. But as we know the great leaders have a number of enemies too, it is not surprising that she was assassinated.
   Born: 19 November 1917
   Died: 31 October 1984
   Spouse: Feroze Gandhi
   Parents: Jawaharlal Nehru, Kamala Nehru
   Education: Somerville College, Oxford, Badminton School

7. Lata Mangeshkar

    

   Lata Mangeshkar

   Source-:Saavn 

   If a tiger is our national animal and peacock is our national bird, then this will not be wrong to call Lata Mangeshkar our national voice. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Lata was named “Hema” at her birth. Her parents later renamed her Lata after a female character, Latika in one of her father’s plays, BhaawBandhan. Lata is the eldest child of her parents. Meena, Asha, Usha, and Hridyanath are her siblings in sequence. Lata Mangeshkar took her first lesson from her father. At the age of 5, she started to work as an actress in her father’s musical plays. Her career was started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over 36 regional Indian language and foreign languages, though primarily in Hindi. She is one of the few people in the world who could maintain same voice right from her childhood till the age of eighty. Lata Mangeshkar has won several awards and honors, including Padma Bhushan (1969), Padma Vibhushan (1999), Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1989), Maharashtra Bhushan Award (1997), NTR National Award (1999), Bharat Ratna (2001), ANR National Award (2009), 3 National Films Awards, and 12 Bengal Film Journalist’s Association Awards. She has also won 4 Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards. She was later awarded Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993. She was the first Bollywood person and the second Indian film person after Satyajit Roy to be conferred the Bharat Ratna.
   Born: 28 September 1929
   Parent(s): Deenanath Mangeshkar, Shevanti Mangeshkar
   Awards: Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan 1999, Padma Bhushan

8. sarojini naidu

    

   sarojini naidu

   Source-:Cultural India 

   She is also known as ‘The Nightingale of India’ (Bharatiya Kokila). Her birthday is celebrated as Women’s Day in India. Sarojini Chattopadhyay, later Naidu, belonged to a Bengali family of Kulin Brahmins. At the age of 12, Sarojini Naidu attained national fame when she topped the matriculation examination at Madras University. Her father wanted her to become a mathematician or scientist but Sarojini Naidu was interested in poetry. She was an Indian independence activist and poet. She depicted contemporary Indian life and events. Her collections ‘The Golden threshold (1905)’, ‘The Bird of Time (1912)’, and ‘The Broken Wing (1912), attracted huge Indian and English readership. Sarojini Naidu joined the Indian National Movement in the wake of partition of Bengal in 1905. During 1915-1918, she traveled to different regions in India delivering lectures on social welfare, women empowerment, and nationalism. She awakened the woman of India and brought them out of the kitchen. She also helped to establish the Women’s India Association (WIA) in 1917. She was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind medal by the British government for her work during the plague epidemic in India. Sarojini Naidu played a leading role during the Civil Disobedience Movement and was jailed along with Gandhi Ji and other leaders. In 1942, Sarojini Naidu was arrested during the “Quit India” movement and was jailed for 21 months with Gandhi Ji. She was the second Indian woman to become president of the Indian National Congress and the first woman to become the Governor of Uttar Pradesh state.
   Born: 13 February 1879
   Died: 2 March 1949
   Spouse: Muthyala Govindarajulu Naidu
   Education: King’s College London (1895–1898), University of Madras, Girton College, Cambridge
   Parents: Barada Sundari Devi, Aghornath Chattopadhyaya

9. Kiran Bedi

    

   Kiran Bedi

   Source-:Daily Excelsior 

   Kiran Bedi was born in Amritsar, Punjab, India. She is an Indian social activist and a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) Officer. Bedi joined the police service in 1972 and became the first woman officer in the IPS. Bedi held the post of Director General at the Bureau of Police Research and Development before she voluntarily retired from the IPS in December 2007. She has founded 2 NGOs in India: the Navjyoti Delhi Police Foundation for welfare and preventing policing in 1988, which was later renamed as the Navjyoti India Foundation in 2007, and the India Vision Foundation for prison reformation, drug abuse prevention and child welfare in 1994. Bedi was awarded Ramon Magsaysay award in 1994 for Government service.
   Born: 9 June 1949
   Spouse: Brij Bedi
   Awards: Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, President’s Police Medal, United Nations Medal
   Education: Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (1993), University of Delhi (1988), Panjab University, Chandigarh

10. Rani Laxmi Bai

     

    Rani Laxmi Bai

    Source-:All India Roundup 

    The Rani of Jhansi was the queen of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi, situated in the north-central part of India. originally named Manikarnika and nicknamed Manu, Lakshmibai was born at Kashi, Varanasi, India. Her father worked at the Peshwa court of Bithoor, because of her father’s influence at court, Lakshmibai has more independence than most women, who were normally restricted to the zenana. She studied self-defence, horsemanship, archery, and even formed her own army out of her female friends at court. Tatya Tope, who would later come to her rescue during the 1857 Rebellion, was her mentor. She was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and a symbol of resistance to the rule of the British East India Company in the subcontinent. She was one of the first to counter the Britishers. The world, which is ruled by men, she was one of the few women, who could defeat any enemy in the battlefield. She can be called the bravest Indian woman in this regard.
    Born: 19 November 1828
    Died: 18 June 1858
    Spouse: Raja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar
    Parents: Moropant Tambe, Bhagirathi Sapre

11. Anandi Gopal Joshi

     

    Anandi Gopal Joshi

    Source-:Alchetron 

    She was the first Indian woman who was trained in western medicine and the first woman to travel to the United States of America. Anandi Joshi, Originally named the Yamuna, was born in an extremely orthodox Brahmin family in Maharashtra. Following the pressure from her family, Anandi was married at a tender age of 9 to Gopalrao Joshi, who was 20 years her senior. It was he who helped Anandi receive and education in medicine. She died at a very young age of 21, she opened the gates for many young women in India who wanted to do much more than devoting their life to household chores.
    Born: 31 March 1865
    Died: 26 February 1887
    Spouse(s): Gopalrao Joshi

12. Bachendri Pal

     

    Bachendri Pal

    Source-:India TV 

    On 23 May 1984, Bachendri Pal made history for Indian women, being the first ever to summit Mount Everest and the fifth women in the world. In 1985, Bachendri Pal led an Indo-Nepalese Everest Expedition team comprised of only women, which created 7 world records and changed the face of Indian mountaineering. This courageous woman, who come from the small village of Naukri in Uttarakhand, has received numerous awards and recognition throughout her mountaineering career. She has gone on to train and empower many women throughout her life.
    Born: 24 May 1954
    Education: Nehru Institute of Mountaineering
    Parents: Shri Kishan Singh Pal, Hansa Devi

13. P.T Usha

     

    P.T Usha

    Source-:jagran.com 

    If you’ve ever heard references to the Queen of Indian Track and Field or the Payyoli Express, then you.ve heard of P.T Usha. Born in the village of Payyoli, Kozhikode District, Kerala, she is arguably one of India’s greatest athletes. P.T Usha started making waves and winning medals in the track field world in the early 1980’s, specifically at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. In 1985, she set a world record taking home 5 gold medals from the Asian Track and Field Meet at Jakarta, Indonesia, to date the most gold medals earned by a female in a single track meet. She continued to win countless medals and awards and was named sportsperson of the century and sportswoman of the Millennium by the Indian Olympic Association. P.T. Usha went on to open her own school in 2002 called the Usha School of Athletics, training young athletes to do as she has done, simply, to be great!
    Born: 27 June 1964
    Spouse: V Srinivasan
    Awards: Padma Shri, Arjuna Award for Athletics
    Parents: E.P.M. Paithal, T.V. Lakshmi

14. Phoolan Devi

     

    Phoolan Devi

    Source-:amarujala.com 

    She was born in Gorha Ka Purwa, a small village on the Yamuna River, Uttar Pradesh, India. Indian bandit and politician who was the notorious “Bandit Queen” who became legendary for both her acts of revenge on those who had abused her and her Robin Hood-like activities to aid the lower castes. She was married at the age of 11 to a ruthless man in his 30s in exchange for a cow. A year later, having been brutalized by him, she returned home. At the age of 18, she was gang-raped by high caste outlaws after the gang she belonged to was attacked by rivals. After all the tortures, Phoolan chooses a path of courage and leadership and ended up being a gang leader in her own right and also wanted to avenge. She started as a burglar, but soon transformed into a dacoit. On February 14, 1981, Devi led a notorious act of revenge known as the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre; some 20 of Behmai’s Thakurs were rounded up and shot in retribution for her gang rape. It was the biggest bloodbath by a hooligan in India’s record, catching the attention of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. A large-scale police manhunt was launched but failed to locate Phoolan Devi. The media dubbed her Bandit Queen at this stage. She went absconding for two years compelling the government to negotiate a surrender. Her demands included a land to be given to her, her gang members were not to be sentenced to death. Phoolan was charged with 48 crimes, including 30 charges of dacoity and kidnapping. In 1996, 2 years after her release, she stood for the 11th Lok Sabha election for the Samajwadi party from Mirzapur area in Uttar Pradesh and won the election and served as an MP. On July 25, 2001, Phoolan Devi was shot dead by 3 masked shooters outside of her Delhi home. She was rushed to a close by the hospital but was stated dead.
    Born: 10 August 1963
    Death: 25 July 2001
    Spouse: Umed Singh
    Parents: Devi Din, Moola Devi

15. Irom Chanu Sharmila

     

    Irom Chanu Sharmila

    Source-:Edristi 

    She is a civil rights activist known to fight against the human rights violation in Manipur. She is also known as ‘Iron Lady of Manipur’. In 1958, the Indian government passed the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), giving special powers to the Indian Armed Forces in seven sister states, which they considered as “disturbed areas”. Irom was already involved in local peace movements with regard to human rights abuses in Manipur, when on November 2000, the Assam Rifles military forces shot and killed 10 civilians waiting at a bus stop in a small town called Malom. This incident known as the Malom massacre triggered Irom Sharmila to go on hunger strike against AFSPA. Irom Sharmila demanded that the Indian government repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act that gave the army extra powers in Manipur. She was arrested and later charged her for attempting suicide. In 2006, she along with other activists conducted a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in Delhi but was again arrested. Her hunger strike got international attention and members of the European parliament too wrote to the Indian government seeking modification of the act. But nothing substantial happened. Sharmila had written letters to earlier PM Manmohan Singh and current PM Narendra Modi but that has not been of much use. Hence, she has decided to end her fast on August 9th and has decided to take the political route to achieve her goal. She has indicated that she would contest the state elections in Manipur next year. She is the winner of Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, Asian Human Rights Commission has given her a lifetime achievement award.
    Born: 14 March 1972
    Parents: Irom c Nanda, Irom Ongbi Sakhi
    Siblings: Irom Singhjit Singh

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