Several women have broken many glass ceilings to reach the top but Harshini Kanhekar took it up a notch higher when she became India’s first woman firefighter. 

Harshini Kanhekar was the first woman in 46 years to graduate from the National Fire Service College (NFSC) in Nagpur as a female fire engineer and firefighter. 

She says she had to overcome gender norms first before dousing out the fire. There were no women when she entered the campus and proved every moment in the college that she was as deserving as the men around her.  She took part in all the drills and physically strenuous activities that the profession demanded.  

She came out with flying colors in 2006 and was deputed to Mehsana in Gujarat and is now in Mumbai as Chief Manager (Fire Services), ONGC.

Harshini Kanhekar is a symbol for defying every odd and gender bias when you have the passion to achieve your aspiration. She urges women to follow their dreams, not to give up for any reason because no field belongs to any gender.