She created aviation history following her appointment as the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) first lady air traffic controller in 1996. She is a national level badminton player, a lawyer and runs India’s first and only all-woman CNG filling station in New Delhi’s tony Shantipath area. That’s retired flight lieutenant Mukti Srivastava who loves to live life to the full. “As a child, I was in love with the uniform, and dreamt about becoming an IPS officer. When I was in Meerut College, the IAF advertised for women in the air traffic control (ATC) service. I applied and topped the ATC exam!” she recalls.

But Srivastava’s exhilaration was short-lived. When it came to the allotment of work, the first batch of women IAF officers were offered only administrative jobs. Srivastava found it difficult to stomach such sexism and filed a writ petition in the high court, challenging the IAF’s discrimination on the ground that the ad inviting applications for ATC posts did not mention that operational positions were for males only. In a landmark judgement in March 1995, Chief Justice D.K. Jain of the Delhi high court upheld her selection for the ATC’s post and directed IAF to assign operational duties to her.

Srivastava credits her fighting spirit to her egalitarian parents. A topper in academics, with a science and law degree from Meerut College, she acknowledges the contribution of her parents to her development. “They encouraged me not only to excel in sports but also to question traditional beliefs and institutions. I took their advice to heart.” This advice spurred her on to become a national badminton champion (1993) and a six-time district level (Meerut) champion, an unbroken record that still makes her father M.M.L. Srivastava, who has represented India in the Thomas Cup, and mother Madhuri, a school principal, very proud.

Despite her initial travails, Srivastava’s six-year stint in the IAF (1996-2001) was rewarding. After training at Coimbatore, she was stationed at Hyderabad, Jaisalmer and Chakeri (Kanpur). But after marriage, with two growing daughters and frequent transfers, Srivastava opted for premature retirement.

In 2002, Delhi’s Indraprastha Gas Ltd introduced its CNG stations (for automotive vehicles), inviting retired defence personnel to apply and Srivastava bagged the contract. “Traditionally, petrol pumps are run by men. I just had to break that mindset and recruit an all-woman staff. The valuable human resource management skills I learnt in the IAF stood me in good stead. A stint in the defence services is an excellent grounding for developing entrepreneurial skills,” she says.

Neeta Lal (Delhi)