India Today

The Changemake­rs

IN A MONTH THAT CELEBRATES INDEPENDEN­CE DAY, HERE ARE SIX PROFESSION­ALS WHO ARE ROLE MODELS IN SOCIETY

- By ADITI PAI n

When other girls went to college on their Sunny, Smita Gondkar, 32, rode a bullet to class.I always wanted to do something different and although I was the only girl in the family, my parents never treated me differentl­y. They encouraged me to take up sports and spread my wings,” she says. So it came as no surprise when Gondkar won the Apollo Flight of the Hawkz, an extreme off motor adventure series on Nat Geo channel in 2010. “It taught me that nothing is impossible and that girls are mentally and emotionall­y much stronger than men,” she says. Gondkar has numerous experience­s in her kitty—she worked on a luxury cruise liner for three years, has represente­d Maharashtr­a at the state level sculling and rowing events, has competed in judo at the national level, was the captain of the Maharashtr­a State Kayaking team at the national games and then trained army cadets in kayaking at the National Institute of Water Sports, Goa. In 2007, she decided to try something different, yet again, and signed a Marathi film, Mumbaicha Dabbawala.

Gender no Bar With 21 films—English, Marathi, Hindi—in her kitty, the petite actor continues to pursue her “first love”—racing and adventure sports. “I did motor cross riding when no girls in Pune did it,” she says. When Gondkar auditioned for Stunt Mania, people dismissed her thinking a “model can’t do all this.” But she became the only female participan­t to go right till the last round. “I got known as a biker and I got to test my own potential,” she says.

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