Aranya Johar to Vandana Shiva: Meet the Indian women in BBC's list of 100 most inspiring women around world

The BBC on Wednesday realeased its list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2019 and six of them are from India. From Aranya Johar to Dr. Pragati Singh, many on the list are driving change on behalf of women everywhere. Such women give us their vision of what life could look like in 2030. It also features a variety of women from the worlds of activism, sports, entertainment, journalism and science; including climate change activist Greta Thunberg, the fastest British woman in history Dina Asher-Smith and US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Other notable figures featured on the list include anti-upskirting campaigner Gina Martin, Oscar nominee Yalitza Aparicio and sumo wrestler Hiyori Kon. 7 Indian women have featured in the BBC List of 100 Most Inspiring Women Around the World. Take a read: Aranya Johar Aranya uses beat poetry to address issues like gender equality, mental health and body positivity. With her inspiring poems, Aranya has used social media to draw attention to serious issues like gender equality, mental health and body positivity. She uses slam poetry to confront beauty standards. Her first released piece, “A Brown Girl's Guide to Gender” became a viral sensation and hit 1 million views within two days of its upload. Susmita Mohanty Hailed as 'India's space woman', spaceship designer Susmita founded India's first space start-up. A passionate climate action advocate, she uses her business to help monitor and understand climate change from space. She has worked at Boeing and NASA, and has consulted with European Space Agency (ESA) and even ISRO, among other space organisations. Natasha Noel Natasha is practitioner of yoga and wellness coach. She is also a motivational speaker and social media influencer. The body positivity influencer often opens up about her traumatic childhood on social media, after losing her mother at the age of three and being the victim of child abuse. She gives talks on body positivity and encourages her followers to talk about mental health without worrying about being singled out. Vandana Shiva In the 1970s, she was part of a movement of women who threw their arms around trees to prevent them being felled - the original "Chipko" 'tree-huggers'. Now a world-renowned environmental leader and winner of the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize, the 'ecofeminist' sees women as the custodians of nature. Subhalakshmi Nandi Based at the International Center for Research on Women, Subhalakshmi has spent over 15 years working to improve gender equality in Asia. Her focus is the rights of women farmers, ending violence against women and improving women's education. Pragati Singh When doctor Pragati Singh started researching asexuality, she realised that several woman came to her with issues that they didn't want to have sex with their husbands or partners. So she began organising meet-ups for people looking for non-sexual relationships. She now runs 'Indian Aces', an online community for asexual people. Parveena Ahanger Parveena Ahanger is an activist in Jammu and Kashmir.

Aranya Johar to Vandana Shiva: Meet the Indian women in BBC's list of 100 most inspiring women around world

From Aranya Johar to Dr. Pragati Singh, many on the list are driving change on behalf of women everywhere. Such women give us their vision of what life could look like in 2030.

Vandana Shiva

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