Being a woman in India is no easy task. On top of that, if you are a trailblazing woman, willingly or otherwise, the world is doubly amazed by your courage.

Harshini Kanhekar is one such woman, which is why she is being felicitated by President Ram Nath Kovind as a “First Lady,” for being the first in her fields. Along with her, 111 other women are being honoured tomorrow for breaking into male-dominated fields and holding their own.

Harshini Kanhekar believed in herself and in the power of her dreams and so she defied all odds to become the first woman firefighter in India, in 2002.

She was the only woman at the time to be admitted to National Fire Service College (NFSC) of Nagpur which was an all-men residential college.

In an interview to IWB, Harshini tells me that it was her greed to be in uniform that led her to take up this career path.

“During my graduation course, I was in NCC and I was fascinated by the people in uniform. I had decided then to pursue a career in any uniform-clad service. I never dreamt of becoming a firefighter and was preparing for Armed and Navy services when my friend told me about this ad which read that NFSC was taking up enrolments for Fire Engineering.”

“My first question was: ‘Do they have a uniform?’ and when my friend said yes, I was sold!” adds Harshini.

While she had agreed to apply for the college, little did she know then that she was creating history by becoming the first woman to get admission in NFSC.

“I had been looking at a lot of uniform courses while I was doing my graduation. Coming from a family background where a lot of importance was given to education, my father had this habit of taking me to all the colleges I applied for to get me the feel of it,” confides Harshini.

“So, it was when my father took me to NFSC, we realized that it was an all men’s college and no woman before me had taken up this course. But, I wasn’t moved by any of it as, by then, I had decided to do this and nothing could change my mind.”

Being a residential college with only male students, Harshini faced many challenges and even the college authorities didn’t know how to tackle the situation. However, Harshini says that the authorities and the entire staff was very cooperative and never made her feel an ‘outsider.’

“They asked me to file an application to study at the college and then return home as it wouldn’t be possible for me to stay at the hostels full of only men. They took permission from Home ministry and so, I was granted permission to go home after my studies,” Harshini tells me.

“However, it wasn’t easy to manage the classes. There were three schedules in a day and for every schedule, there was a different uniform. And, I was like this guinea pig that had to set the right standards otherwise people would stereotype and judge other women who would come after me,” she continues.

I further ask her about the struggles she had to face being the only girl and being the ‘guinea pig.’

“I passed the exams, got the admission, and everyone was talking about it. All media houses ran news about the same. So, my identity wasn’t of Harshini anymore, but of the ‘first woman firefighter.’ So, it was from the first day at the college itself, the real struggle started. I had to set the right benchmark as I was representing the women power and I didn’t want to let them down. In my 3 and a half years, of course, I never took a leave and was always on time. In fact, I would reach early and practice with the heavy equipment in the store all by myself.

On her parents support, Harshini affirms that they were always aware of her attitude and her will to pursue a career in Indian uniform services.

“Of course, they took some time to reflect upon the prospect and the scope of my career choice, but, when they were satisfied, they supported me fully. The apprehension actually came from the extended family and a few friends. They were not convinced of my choices as they worried about me being the only girl in a college full of men. But again, I have never bothered what others say. It was my determination and nothing else mattered apart from my parents support.”

I ask her about the first friend she made in NFSC to which Harshini replies with a giggle and say, “Our practicals took place not only in the NFSC campus but other engineering colleges in Nagpur, too. And, as I wasn’t staying in the college, there was a communication gap about the practicals and other whereabouts. This friend of mine helped me and supported me initially. At that time, not everyone had mobile phones also, so he made sure to inform me about the classes and the practicals.”

In 2006, Harshini joined the Mehsana fire station in Gujarat, the second largest onshore production of the Oil and National Gas Corporation. However, she knew that while women were being placed in the onshore posts, the policies were such that no women were given offshore postings. This irked Harshini and she urged her boss at ONGC to go on an offshore project.

“I, first, visited offshore in 2006 itself. Later, I joined Mumbai Drilling services in 2010 and since then, I have been going offshore for Fire audits. Unfortunately, the policies are such that there’s no provision or infrastructure for women at offshore. However, I wanted to break this mental barrier and never let the lack of infrastructure to go offshore,” explains Harshini.

But, Harshini says that things are changing and more opportunities are opening up for women.

“After I got the admission in 2002, just next year, two girls got selected for the course. However, only one took the admission. But, due to some affiliation issues, after 2003, the course was temporarily closed until 2014. They started taking up applications again in 2014 and 6 women joined NFSC. I personally met them all and it was quite a memorable moment. In 2016, there were more than 6 who got admission and so, I think the things are looking better than before.”

Harshini also reveals to me that in 2008, she gifted herself a Baja Avenger bike on her birthday as he loved bikes.

“At that point, I was in Mehsana which is a very small town and so there were no biker clubs and all. When I came to Mumbai, I came across this Bajaj Avenger Club and became the only women in their group. Since then, I have been taking bike trips to nearby places.”

On her most memorable bike expedition, Harshini tells me, “One time, I took this spontaneous trip to the Northeast and there I took a bike on rent and went to places like Shillong, Cherapunji, and other places. Recently, I also went biking to Leh Ladakh and also had this memorable experience of bike riding to the world’s highest motorable road, Khardung La pass.”

BTW: Just last year, on December 25, 2016, Harshini got married to one of her bike riding companions.

Harshini tells me about her other passion which is guitar and confides in me her little secret that even her parents don’t know about.

“For as long as I remember, I have always wanted to learn guitar! Even when I was in Nagpur, I took up guitar lessons and no one knew about it. I believe that we have got only one life and we should fulfill all our heart desires and passions. No one else will come to you and say, I know this is your passion, go pursue it. You are the only one who can do that. Apart from being a firefighter, I do things that make me happy: a little painting, learning guitar, traveling, riding bikes!”

To conclude she has one strong message for all the women: “For anything to happen, you need to first dream it and follow it with all your heart and hardwork. It doesn’t matter what atmosphere or surroundings you have got, you need to find a way to pursue your passion.”

Kudos to you, Harshini! Keep rising and inspiring!