Google celebrates India's first woman pilot, Sarla Thukral with doodle
On the occasion of the 107th birth anniversary of India's first female pilot Sarla Thukral, Google paid tribute in a unique way by making a doodle in her honor. Thukral was born on August 8, 1914 in Delhi, British India, and later moved to Lahore in present-day Pakistan. She was an Indian pilot, designer and entrepreneur.
Sarla Thukral made history by flying a plane in the year 1936 when she was just 21 years old. She was inspired by her husband who was from a family of fliers. Artist Vrinda Zaveri has prepared this doodle.
“We planned to run this same doodle honouring 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, Thukral left such a lasting legacy for women in aviation that we decided to run the doodle this year in honour of her 107th birthday," Google said in a statement.
Thukral was a student of the Lahore Flying Club. She was the first Indian women to complete 1,000 hours of flight time to gain her A licence. When she began preparations to become a commercial pilot, World War II put a stop. Thukral then studied fine art and painting at Lahore’s Mayo School of Arts (now the National College of Arts).
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She later returned to Delhi where she continued painting and built a successful career designing jewellery and clothing.
