Soaring high above the gender barrier

New Delhi: The Futehally family was perhaps way beyond times. In the early 1960s, when few women would even think of pursuing a hobby, Mumbai-based Rabia Futehally chose flying as her pastime.
With the support from her father, brothers and husband, she climbed into the cockpit of a Piper PA-18, a twin-seater aircraft and made history by becoming the first Indian woman to obtain a Private Pilots License.
Rabia grew up playing cricket, she liked swimming, hiking and horse riding with her two brothers. When all the men in her family got together and decided to learn to fly, she felt left out. “How could I have missed out on all the fun,” she said.
With permission from her father Rabia soon enrolled at the Bombay Flying Club. “I had a nine-months-old baby, but even then my father agreed,” she revealed.Shuttling between her home and the Club, her foray with flying continued for the next four decades.
23/09/12 Nilima Pathak/Gulf News