Rising Beyond the Ceiling
Celebrating Achievements, Changing Stereotypes, Creating Leadership Capacities
There is a stereotype narrative surrounding Muslim women in India. However, the millions of Indian women who identify themselves as Muslim reach across a spectrum of ethnicities and languages, states and union territories, do not look the same or sound the same, and contribute towards nation building in a wide variety of ways. The Rising Beyond The Ceiling initiative, born out of the need to change the stereotypical narrative, is a celebration of Indian Muslim women. The focus of this initiative is to shine a spotlight on Muslim women in India, their leadership and contributions in Independent India, as well as study their demographics and socioeconomic trends. While this cohort comprises of over a hundred million women, there is limited information and data on their contributions to India's fabric, socioeconomic growth and development. This is the first compendium and initiative to focus on nation building contributions by Muslim women of India.
The women spotlighted here from across the states of India do many amazing things- they fly drones and planes, they serve in the police and army, they are skeet shooters and bike riders, they write books and poetry, create art, play hockey and tennis championships, administer and govern, advocate for social issues, serve as lawyers, scientists and doctors, are entrepreneurs, politicians, media and corporate professionals and are substantive contributors to the progress of the country. I continue to learn about and talk to Muslim women from different parts of the country. They have diversified my perspective and showed that Muslim women are not a monolith. Inspired by their stories we are shedding other people's narrow definitions of success and of us- Indian Muslim women. The stories are for all young women and girls in India to seek their inspiration, role models and mentors in their own districts and neighborhoods and to be inspirations themselves to future generations.
We continue to welcome your feedback and nominations of inspiring Muslim women of India at: RisingBeyondTheCeiling@gmail.com