News > Refusing a life of isolation, how an 18 year old widow became India’s 1st female engineer

Refusing a life of isolation, how an 18 year old widow became India’s 1st female engineer

In 1937, Ayyalasomayajula Lalitha faced the daunting task of raising her four-month-old daughter after losing her husband. As an 18-year-old widow, she was expected to conform to a life of isolation and perpetual sorrow, but the forward-thinker chose to defy societal norms. Instead of succumbing to societal pressures, she decided to pursue a career in engineering, a male-dominated field at the time. This decision would, later on, make Lalitha India’s first female engineer.