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The fight against the Coronavirus has brought to the forefront healthcare workers and helpers who are risking their lives to help the nation. Many inspirational women are playing a critical role in pushing through the daily hardships and doing the best they can in the fight against the pandemic. One such person is Minal Dakhave Bhosle, Mylab Discovery Solution's research and development chief. If you're interested in the field of science and medicine, her story will inspire you to pursue a career in the field.

Minal Bhosale and her team at Mylab created India's first coronavirus test kit. The kit was manufactured in a short time of just six weeks compared to the industry standard of three to four months. Yet the most remarkable thing about the creation of the kit is that it all happened while she was pregnant. On March 18, she submitted her testing kit for evaluation to the National Institute of Virology. The same evening, she also submitted the kit to the Indian FDA and the drugs control authority CDSCO for commercial approval, just an hour before she went to a hospital to deliver her baby!

She is quoted saying, "If you carry out 10 tests on the same sample, all 10 results should be the same. And we achieved that. Our kit was perfect." Minal and her team had only begun work on the testing kit in February after she left the hospital with a pregnancy complication. "It was an emergency, so I took this on as a challenge. I have to serve my nation," she said, also mentioning that her team, which consisted of 10 members, worked tirelessly to ensure a quick turnaround.

Women like Minal are an excellent example of successful women in India who are driven and do not sit on their past success. During the 2009 outbreak of the Swine Flu disease, Minal was also part of the team working on a vaccine for the disease at NIV, Pune. Her efforts show us that women in science and technology in the country are carrying out some of the most pioneering work. Every kit manufactured by Mylab is capable of testing 100 samples at a cost of only Rupees 1,200. This is almost a quarter of the Rupees 4,500 India was paying to import COVID 19 testing from overseas. Minal and her team also made sure that the test diagnosis was available much quicker. The kit gives a diagnosis in two and a half hours compared to imported testing kits, which take up to seven hours.

Women warriors like Minal are the flag bearers for working women who are ambitious and fearless. She is an excellent example of selfless dedication and shows us that it is possible to successfully achieve our goals even when the odds may be against us. Like her, you too can create a path for yourself in the field of science and who knows, maybe someday your name shall be etched in history.

Gunjan Saxena was born in 1972 in Bihar. Her family moved to Lucknow when she was a child, so she attended Kendriya Vidyalaya (a government school). Gunjan moved to Delhi to study electronics engineering at Indraprastha University. She loved the city and decided to stay here for good. In her spare time, she worked as an air hostess for a few years before pursuing her dream of becoming a pilot in the air force.

In 1994, the Indian Air Force called for women candidates to apply for the position of flying officer. Gunjan Saxena was selected from over 1,000 applicants and became the first female officer in her class. Gunjan passed out from IAF in 1994 with flying wings on both sides and was commissioned into the 'Flying Liner' corps of the IAF as a navigator-pilot officer after completing basic training at the College of Air Warfare (COAW) located at Pune Air Force Station (now known as Hindon Airbase). Gunjan Saxena became one of the first female pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF) on June 27 1994. She had a very supportive family and was able to fly solo at age 16.

She flew helicopters from Chandigarh on her first solo flight and has been flying since then. She is also one of the few women who have flown Chetak and Cheetah helicopters.

She flew with her team of pilots to Srinagar, Kashmir, in 1996 as part of Operation Rakshak, which aimed at quelling violence there. In 1999, she was transferred back to Chandigarh and then again to Adampur in Punjab, where she stayed until 2002.

While at Adampur, she was chosen by the Ministry of Defence to be part of a three-member team that would be deployed as UN peacekeepers in Congo as part of Operation Shikar. The mission involved building schools, hospitals and other infrastructure in war-torn areas. In 2002, she was sent abroad for training on how to fly fighter jets or supersonic aircraft. Gunjan was also part of a four-member team deployed to help restore power after an earthquake hit Haiti in 2010.