7 Incredible and Inspiring Women in India!

Tech, sports, business, law — name one industry where women are not shining! It’s 2023, and women around the world are making their mark and proving their capabilities. It’s inspiring to see a massive rise in the number of women entrepreneurs, athletes, and change-makers in India.  

7 inspiring women in India (in no particular order)

Here’s a list of inspiring Indian women who empower countless Indian girls with their brilliance!

1. Seema Kushwaha – Advocate at the Supreme Court of India

Seema Kushwaha is the advocate who fiercely fought for Nirbhaya’s justice for 7 long years. Her efforts and dedication paid off the day our entire nation shed tears of happiness; justice was delivered, and the convicts were put to death. 

“It didn’t matter that it was my first case – for every ounce of experience that AP Singh had, I made up for it by not giving up. Finally, 7 years, 3 death warrants & countless delays later, our efforts paid off,” Seema Kushwaha shared with Humans of Bombay. She’s a woman of resilience who inspires Indian girls to recognize the power within them. 

2. Hima Das – Indian Sprinter from Assam

Hima Das is a strong personality who rose like a phoenix from the ashes and became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the IAAF World U20 Championship! She has been honoured with the prestigious Arjuna Award, and her journey proves that once you set your mind to achieve something, nothing, absolutely nothing, can stop you — an inspiration for countless young women.

“I couldn’t afford shoes & didn’t have a ground to practice, so I’d practice in muddy fields.” - Hima Das 

3. Lovlina Borgohain – Indian Boxer

Lovlina Borgohain is yet another inspiring Indian woman to achieve massive success in sports. Her roaring performance at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 won countless hearts, but her journey was not even close to easy. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Lovlina shared the challenges she faced right before the Olympics — from COVID-19 to her mother's kidney transplant, and then her injury. She braved through every challenge and was also honoured with the prestigious Arjuna Award for Boxing and Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for Boxing. 

“There is fear, but if you fear there is no medal” - Lovlina Borgohain

4. Arundhati Bhattacharya - Indian banker and former Chairperson of the State Bank of India

Arundhati Bhattacharya is one of the most inspiring personalities in the finance industry. She is the first woman to become the chairperson of the State Bank of India and has also ranked 4th on Fortune's list of The Most Powerful Women in Asia-Pacific. She ranked 25th in the World's 100 Most Powerful Women list in the 2016 edition by Forbes. She was also featured in the 2021 W-Power list by Forbes, India. Arundhati Bhattacharya currently is the chairperson and CEO of Salesforce India. 

“I have had to give up a lot of things, but given a chance, I would not do a single thing differently. It’s only a question of prioritizing your responsibilities. It depends on what you want to do and how you want to do it. I believe one should have their own standards to live up to; not those that society thrusts upon them.” - Arundhati Bhattacharya 

5. Priya Semwal – Captain, Indian Army

The journey of becoming Captain Priya Semwal from Priya Semwal is right up there with all the inspiring stories of women in India. Captain Priya Semwal stood up to join the Indian Army after her husband, Naik Amit Sharma, was martyred. She created history as the first army wife of a non-commissioned officer to join the army after clearing her exams. She talks about it on NewsX. After the death of her husband, Captain Priya Semwal was often addressed as ‘Bichari’ (poor thing), and she knew it was up to her to change that tag. When she heard about the opportunity to join the Indian Army as an officer, she found her footing and worked towards becoming a commissioned officer in the Indian Army. 

“I am the first Martyr's wife commissioned into the Indian army. First in the sense of NCO's wife. My husband was a non-commissioned officer.” - Priya Semwal

6. Suchi Mukherjee – Founder & CEO of LimeRoad 

Suchi Mukherjee is an Indian entrepreneur, and the face behind LimeRoad, the largest women's-only marketplace in Southeast Asia. The list of her accomplishments is endless – from receiving the Best Woman Entrepreneur Award by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India in 2017 to the Incredible Women Leaders Award by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in 2022, the tales of her startup are studied, analyzed, and admired across the globe. In April 2022, Suchi Mukherjee received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Niti Ayog, Government of India.

“You need the fighter gene to succeed, and you must be prepared for failures. Resilience plays a very crucial role in attaining success.” - Suchi Mukherjee

7. Shraddha Sharma – Indian Journalist, CEO at Yourstory.com 

Shraddha Sharma is a prominent name in the Indian media industry. She is the Founder of Yourstory.com, a unique online platform for tech startups, entrepreneurs, investors and change-makers, which has by far covered the stories of over 40,000 entrepreneurs. Today, Yourstory.com is the only platform in India that has original business and entrepreneurship stories in 12 different languages.

“I had a dream – to write great stories, share them with the world, and have fun doing it” - Shraddha Sharma

Empowered women empower women 

Be it their creativity, resilience, tech know-how, sports excellence or law, there are countless Indian women who are making it big across industries. Amazing stories of Indian women teach us to recognize the strength within us, believe in ourselves, and fiercely go after our dreams. Giving for Good celebrates every story and aims to empower young girls to look up to these Indian stars who are breaking barriers and setting inspiring #goals! 

Exclusively written for Giving for Good Foundation by Puja Das