Indian Army's legal arm gets its first lady Colonel: A look at women who made a mark

Women have routinely broken into male bastions across separate spheres and its is no different in the Indian military. Earlier this week, a branch in the Indian Army got it’s first lady Colonel. Here’s a list of some successful women in India who have broken the glass ceiling. Colonel Leena Gaurav [caption id=“attachment_1792707” align=“alignnone” width=“620”]  Representational Image. IBNLive[/caption] The Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch of the Indian Army got its first lady Colonel — Leena Gaurav —earlier this week. The lady Colonel belongs to the the JAG branch which commissions lady officers as permanent soldiers. The Army Medical Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Army Service Corps are the other non-combat army branches where lady officers are given permanent commission,  reports The Indian Express. Lieutenant General Puneeta Arora [caption id=“attachment_1792709” align=“alignnone” width=“620”]  Representational Image. Youtube grab[/caption] Lieutenant General Puneeta Arora heads the prestigious defense institution, the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC). Before becoming Vice Admiral of Indian Navy she was Commandant of AFMC. She took charge of commandant of Armed Forces Medical College in 2004 thereafter becoming the first woman officer to command the medical college. Tessy Thomas,  [caption id=“attachment_1792555” align=“alignnone” width=“620”]  Tessy Thomas. IBNLive[/caption] Tessy Thomas is known as the “Agniputri” which literally means a rocket scientist. She is the first woman Project Director for numerous missile projects in the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and which is based out of Hyderabad. According to an article in womesweb.in_,_ Thomas has been the mastermind behind designing for all the Agni series missile projects, which are the strongest weapons of the Indian defence. She was appointed as Director by former president APJ Abdul Kalam. Arundhati Bhattacharya [caption id=“attachment_1792723” align=“alignnone” width=“620”]  Arundhati Bhattacharya. IBNLive[/caption] Arundhati Bhattacharya is the first woman chairperson to be appointed by the government of India of the 206 year old State Bank of India. She was previously the MD and CFO of SBI. She broke all barriers and has become the first woman to ever head a Fortune 500 company in India. She is also the only woman banker on that list of big companies anywhere in the world, reports The Times of India. According to the TOI report, Bhattacharya, started off as a probationary officer in 1977. Since then she has held key positions in SBI in her 36-year career. Aditi Gupta [caption id=“attachment_1792565” align=“alignnone” width=“620”]  Aditi Gupta. Moneycontrol[/caption] Menstruation always been something which no one talks about. It is  considered a taboo, and hence never spoken about in public. Aditi Gupta, decided to end break this unspoken tradition and created a Hindi comic book with her now husband Tuhin Patel, illustrating and educating girls about menstruation. Today this venture has scaled up to an entire website called Menstrupedia.com.  “Menstrupedia, friendly guide to healthy periods” has been covered by The Wall Street Journal, The Times of India, CNBC, The Hindu and Forbes, according to their website. Aditi Gupta has reached the uneducated and confused girls who are unable to understand what is going on with their body. This website and especially the comic book helps them tackle all the problems they face during the days of menstruation.