By Shambhavi Kapoor

“Captain Priya welcomes everyone aboard Boeing 360; flying from New Delhi to Amsterdam” 

The journey of airplane pilot, Captain Priya, started in Ragarh, Haryana. Hailing from a very small village, Priya is the only child of her parents. Her father worked as a local contractor. Priya spent her childhood chasing airplanes in the sky. Her father earned just enough for sustenance but made sure to educate Priya, going against the societal norms of their village where girls were an 'unwanted burden', who were to be married off at puberty. And education? Well, that was a big no. 

Priya was ambitious and intelligent. Having faced financial difficulties, she craved to be financially stable and independent. When society started taunting her family to get her married, they turned a blind eye to them. Priya wanted to become a pilot, and her parents wanted her to fulfill her dreams. She was so passionate about her dreams that she lived every day as if it was the first day of her life. She hustled hard and cleared her examinations and trained to become a pilot. 

She recalls that apart from her dream of becoming a pilot, she wanted to make money by adding value to people’s lives. 

Today, she is the first woman from her village who studied after class 8th and the first person from her village to become a successful pilot! 

She is contented and is grateful to her parents for believing in her. She is thankful to the society as well, for challenging her. It ignited a desire in her to beat them, because “you soar high only when you fly against the wind.”

As she happily flies people to their loved ones, it gives her immense pleasure at the sight of their rejoicing; for being able to serve a lot of people and earning a LOT of money out of it. 

YOU CAN, if you think you can.