Gayathri Subran is on cloud nine. The first Dalit woman in India to helm an aircraft, Gayathri Subran has made a leap of faith to her childhood ambition.
The daughter of Pappanayil Subran and Sakunthala has always dreamed of flying. She has spent countless nights looking at the flickering lights of aircraft flying over her thatched hut. At 20, Gayathri Subran is on the verge of obtaining a commercial pilot licence.
The family from Kunjukuzhippadam near Chalakkudi in Thrissur has much to cheer about when the girl soars on the wings of her ambitions over their miserable existence.
Back home after the theory classes, Gayathri Subran is preparing for the test in Mumbai just two months away. She has flown 70 hours as part of the training, including 20 minutes of flight at an altitude of 1,500 feet over the Aviation Academy in Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. She has to fly 130 more hours before she can claim a commercial pilot license.
Her father Subran is a chit fund agent attached to the Kerala State Financial Enterprise. The family’s only asset is a two-cent plot of land and a small house on it. Her grandmother has been bedridden for long.
Yet the family supported Gayathri to pursue her ambition. They sent her to a spoken English course after completing plus two. Even as the girl prepares to be India’s first Dalit woman pilot, her father is worrying over the debt he has accrued for her studies.
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