Madras. 1930s.
A girl is married at 15.
A mother by 18.
And a widow - four months after her baby is born.
No noise.
No answers.
Just silence.
And a baby in her arms.
*But her story did not end there.*
*It "began" there.*
And what she did next?
India was not ready for it.
Her father - Pappu Subba Rao, a professor of electrical engineering - saw a spark in her eyes. He did not just console her. He rebooted her future.
He walked her into the *College of Engineering, Guindy.* A fortress of men. No woman had ever entered. Until she did.
1943 - She walks out with a degree in Electrical Engineering.
*India’s first woman engineer.*
No quotas.
No campaigns.
No freebies.
Just courage.
While others whispered, she designed transmission lines for India’s biggest dam - Bhakra Nangal.
When nations were building walls - she was lighting them up.
She joined Associated Electrical Industries (AEI), Calcutta. Worked for three decades.
Designing systems. Fixing failures.
Bridging two worlds - British hardware and Indian ambition.
No site visits - because widows “should not travel.” So she sent brilliance instead.
She did not rebel.
She redesigned what rebellion looked like.
With no protest.
Just precision.
From behind her desk, she powered grids.
She was not loud.
She did not fight.
*She just outperformed - every day.*
*1964. New York.*
The First International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists.
She is there. In a saree. Representing a country that barely knew her name. (๐ซฃ๐ข)
*By 1966, she becomes a full member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers (London).*
Not just an Indian story.
A global statement.
But ask your textbooks.
Ask your engineering colleges.
Ask your dams and grids.
They will remember the voltage.
*But have forgotten her name.*
So the next time someone asks:
“Was engineering always a man’s world?” Just smile. And whisper:
*“Before we had panels and policies - she broke the current.”*
*And every circuit she drew was a quiet slap to the rules.*
*Her name was Ayyalasomayajula Lalitha.* - First Indian female engineer
HAPPY ENGINEERS' LIFE !
C0PY PASTE
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