Kalpana Chawla was India’s first women aeronautical engineer to travel into space. She has been a role model to several women in terms of achievement and contributions to the field of aeronautics. Growing up in a male dominant society, Kalpana never let her dreams of flying be affected in any way. In fact, she was the first woman to study aeronautical engineering in her batch.
Kalpana Chawla was born on the 1st of July, 1961 in a small town in Karnal located in the state of Haryana. Her parents, Banarasi Lal Chawla and Sanjyothi had two other daughters named Sunita and Deepa and a son named Sanjay. Kalpana was the youngest in her family and hence, she was the most pampered too.
She got educated at the Tagore Public School and later enrolled at Punjab Engineering College to complete her Aeronautical Engineering Degree in 1982.
She knew early on in her life that she wanted to be an aerospace engineer. “Every once in a while,” Chawla said to NASA, “we’d ask my dad if we could get a ride in one of these planes (planes from local flying clubs). And, he did take us to the flying club and get us a ride in the Pushpak and a glider that the flying club had,” she was quoted as saying. Kalpana had been inspired by JRD Tata’s work in aviation.
