“A Lion is a Dog?” Two of us were aboard a flight, on our way to interview yet another inspiring woman, when this conversation came up. We can’t say if it was the fatigue or the engine noise but the miscommunication was hilarious. Only later did things fall into place. A line is a dot that went for a walk – a quote that could be used as the title for our upcoming book! We agreed on it instantly and wasted no time in calling up the third. After three months of discussion, we had finally, mutually, agreed upon a title. “A dot that went for a walk..”, indicating the infinite possibilities the women in our book had discovered, paving a new path, not just for themselves but for millions of young children.
It was during our conversations with our daughters that we realised how unaware they were of successful Indian women, as opposed to women from the West. So, we decided to put this book together.
As we dug deeper, we got innumerable ideas and came across many stories that we hadn’t heard of before. We had about 200 odd stories – each one of them unique and influencing. It was a tough journey to arrive at our final 51. We were looking for firsts – women who were the first in their field and impactful – who thought and explored beyond what was precedented. Hence we chose stories about women from history- like botanist Janaki Ammal and Bharatanatyam dancer Rukmini Devi Arundale, along with women from this generation like Aditi Mittal and Radhika Menon (merchant Navy captain). The design of the book was also a task, as we had to change two design companies for unforseen reasons, almost when everything was ready. But after all kinds of problems, the final output made us all happy! Each story was illustrated by a different artist, making the book a culmination of inspiring and creative women.
After the success of our English publication, we decided to release the book in Telugu as well. After all, our goal was to inspire young children, specially girls, to dream about a career. When we took these books to government schools across the Telugu states, many girls told us they wanted to be another Janaki Ammal or Radhika Menon, an opportunity they weren’t aware of earlier. That’s the impact we wanted to create! We wanted to create aspirations in the minds of young girls. Persistence, courage and determination – this is what drove these women and that is what it takes to achieve goals. We want every girl to know that. It’s a personal and emotional project that we’re proud of. It doesn’t end with the book though. This is just the beginning. Our mission to inspire girls to dream, will go on for long time to come.

Humans of Hyderabad in Collaboration with The Dot Express – 51 inspiring stories that celebrate extraordinary women from India. @thedotexpress

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