India’s First Woman Firefighter Broke Gender Barriers, Inspired Millions To Dream!

For centuries we’ve been doing one single, but a major mistake — the mistake of associating a field of work with a particular gender. For example, we always think that only a man needs to ride a bike. But a bike wouldn’t know if it’s a man or a woman riding it. A bike will continue to move as long as the rider is shifting gears correctly. Especially in countries like India, there are n number of careers that have already been declared to be gender-specific. Who has made this declaration? It’s the society of course, and what does that constitute of? People like us! But there are souls amongst us who have been striving to change this illogical habit of ours. And one such soul happens to be Harshini Kanhekar, a 37-year-old woman who has broken through ceilings and walls (quite literally) and paved her way to becoming India’s first-ever Woman Fire Fighter.

When she was asked if she was scared because she has to play with fire in this profession, Harshini chuckles and answers a “no.” But to fight with fire one needs to fearless, right? And to chose a profession that had no woman do the job before her, it takes an attitude which is much more than being fearless for sure. How did this young woman become the first Woman Fire Fighter of the country? Let’s read about her journey together.

Her Journey Of Self Discovery

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There was a time when this braveheart faced fears too. Those fears had got to do with the mediocre life that she was living, she studied in an all-girls college in Nagpur. She recalls those college days as a time when she wasn’t cordial at all. She never spoke to anyone, nor did she participate in any activities. In fact, she terms this phase of her life as the “darkest phase.”

She also says that earlier she was never like this. During her school days, she was quite opposite. Yes, she was not that much of a bright student, but she participated in sports and other extracurricular activities. She even won in most of these competitions.

One recall of these two phases of her life made her decide that she had to do something. She couldn’t just let herself slip into oblivion and feel lost for the rest of her life. This was the moment she decided to change.

Her Dream Of Wearing A Uniform

Source: IndiaTimes

She completed her pre-university education in Lady Amritbai Daga (LAD) college in Nagpur. And in the same institution, she enrolled for a Bachelor of Science degree as well. She started this phase of life with a fresh and positive approach. She participated in several competitions and won them as well. She became very popular among her teaching staff and other students of the college as well. She felt as though she’d found her purpose of life again.

It was at this time when she decided to enroll for NCC (National Cadet Corps). Joining NCC was a turning point in her life. Because it was NCC that helped her discover the adventurous streak in her and that is when she decided that to join armed forces would be the goal of her life from then on. Things didn’t really work in her favor and she ended up enrolling for an MBA course instead. However, she never gave up and kept preparing for all those entrance exams that would take her closer to her dream of donning a uniform. Upon the insistence of a friend, she wrote the entrance for fire engineering course. She recalls that she had no idea what the course was about. All that she asked her friend was that if she cleared would she get to wear a uniform. And her friend answering a “yes” to it made her enroll for it.

One fine day, she received a call from her father. He told her that she had received a telegram from the National Fire Service College and she had cleared the exam. And it was only later on that she learnt that she was the first girl ever to clear the exam and make it to the college. She describes that feeling as “surreal.”

The ONLY Woman

Source: BeAnInspirer

Her parents were very apprehensive about this decision of hers as nobody had any idea about the course or the college, including Harshini. Soon everybody got to know that this college was the only one of its kind in the entire Southeast Asia and it was run by the home ministry.

She studied in an all-girls institution for five years and now she was stepping into an all-boys institute. The change was drastic for her. The course required students to live on campus, and in Harshini’s case, special arrangements had to be made so that she could go home after the classes.

Harshini says, “All the boys in my college used to ridicule me because of all the media attention and publicity I was receiving. According to them, I was doing nothing different. What they failed to understand that it was not about Harshini Kanhekar, the person, but more about a girl breaking into a male bastion, and doing what no one ever had.”

She had to deal with suction hoses, heavy water hoses, mock drills that included dummies, it was difficult for everybody. But for Harshini, it was much more, not physically but mentally. As she knew that her performance was about to set the tone for other girls in the future who’d want to pursue their careers in this field.

Her Raging To Go And Fearless Attitude

Source: Youthkiawaaz

Harshini loves handling fire situations. Since her appointment as a firefighter, Harshini has played a major role in dousing big fires in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Delhi. As part of her service as a firefighter, Harshini has also rescued civilians during wildlife attacks, floods, building collapses, river swelling, etc. Harshini says that she considers herself fortunate to have great instructors, supportive parents, and employers who have always stood by her.

All we can say that Harshini’s story serves as an example to every soul irrespective of gender who wants to do something in life that no one else has ever done. While Harshini continues to make us all proud, we need to imbibe her fighting spirit and fight for what we dream of in our respective lives. Did this story inspire you? Tell us in the comments below.

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