Sarla Thukral 107th Birth Anniversary Google Doodle: Search Giant Honours The First Woman Pilot Of India With High-Flying Doodle

Mumbai, August 8:  Today’s Google Doodle has been dedicated to the first Indian woman pilot, designer, and entrepreneur Sarla Thukral. Search engine giant, Google, is celebrating the 107the birth anniversary of Sarla Thakur with an artistic doodle. The high-flying Doodle is created by guest artist Vrinda Zaveri. The Doodle contains an image of Thakur sitting in an aircraft and soaring in the sky. Dr Vera Gedroits 151st Birth Anniversary Google Doodle: Search Giant Honours Russia's First Female Military Surgeon.

“We planned to run this same Doodle honoring Sarla Thukral in India last year. However, when the tragic plane crash occurred in Kerala, we withheld the Doodle out of respect to the event and relief effort. Though we don’t usually run Doodles more than once, Sarla left such a lasting legacy for women in aviation that we decided to run the Doodle this year in honor of her 107th birthday,” Google said. Dr Kadambini Ganguly 160th Birth Anniversary Google Doodle: Search Giant Honours The First Woman Physician Of India With Doodle Artwork.

Artistic Google Doodle on Sarla Thukral's 107th Birth Anniversary:

Thukral was born in Delhi, British India, on August 8, 1914. She later moved to Lahore in present-day Pakistan. Sarla was inspired by her husband, PD Sharma, whom she married at the age of 16. Notably, Sharma was an airmail pilot from a family of fliers. She started her flying training. At the age of 21, dressed in a traditional sari, she stepped into the cockpit of a small double-winged plane for her first solo flight. With this flight, history was created as she became the first Indian woman to fly an aircraft.

As a student of the Lahore Flying Club, she completed 1,000 hours of flight time to gain her "A" licence. Notable, she also was the first Indian to get “A” licence. In 1939, her husband died in a plane crash. After some time of her husband’s death, she applied to train for her commercial pilot licence, but World War II had begun, and civil training was suspended.

Sarla then studied fine art and painting at Lahore’s Mayo School of Arts (now the National College of Arts). And after partition, she returned to Delhi, where she continued painting and built a successful career designing jewelry and clothing. She met RP Thukral and married him in 1948. Sarla, also known as Mati, became a successful businesswoman, painter and began designing clothes and costume jewellery. She breathed her last on March 15, 2008. She was an inspiration for Indian women. Her achievements paved the way for generations of Indian women to turn their dreams into reality.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 08, 2021 09:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).