Cover Story: The Durga Effect: 8 South Asian Women Who Fought For Change And Won!

 

1. Deepa Malik (India) – Disability Rights Advocate

Deepa Malik underwent surgery on her spine to remove a cancerous tumour at age 29, which resulted in her paralysis, but this did not keep her down. Instead, it seems to have fueled her passion for sports, and she became involved in multiple sports the following year. In 2016, Malik became the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Rio Paralympics, securing “…a Silver Medal in Shotput F53 category with lifetime personal best performance of 4.61 [meters].”

In addition, Malik “…holds Four Limca World Records in the Adventure Category” and “…the first ever Indian paraplegic woman swimmer, biker and car rallyist.” Malik has won “…23 international medals and 68 national and state level medals” at various sporting events. With such impressive stats, it’s no surprise that Malik has received numerous awards, including the “…Five Prestigious President of India Awards & honours – Padma Shri, Arjuna Award, President’s National Role Model Award, and the  International Human Rights Council’s ‘Exceptional Speaker Award’” for her uplifting speeches.

When she’s not winning medals, she strongly advocates for persons with disabilities and works diligently to break stereotypes surrounding the differently abled. Malik co-founded the Wheeling Happiness Foundation, where the “…mission is to create an inclusive & barrier-free society and empower people with disabilities, women and economically under-served communities.”

Malik is involved in policy work that benefits athletes who are “…physically challenged” through various associations, including working with the government as an “…expert consultant for Disability Inclusive Accessible Infrastructure for Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs ‘Smart Cities’ project.”

Lately, Malik released her memoir, Bring It On, in January 2025.

2. Deepa Mehta (Canada) – Social Justice Advocate

Deepa Mehta is a legend in her own right. Mehta has been nominated for an Oscar; she’s a director, screenwriter, and producer. According to the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards, Mehta is often depicted “…as [being] a “transnational” artist, able to tell universally meaningful stories from a uniquely Canadian point of view.”

She is an avid advocate of social justice, using her voice and talent to bring light to important topics like “…intolerance, cultural discrimination and domestic violence.” The Elemental Trilogy: Earth, Fire, and Water are key examples of her advocacy work and determination to create awareness of difficult subjects, such as gender equality and women’s rights.

For instance, Fire (1996) was one of the first Indian films to openly depict a same-sex relationship between women, sparking national debates on LGBTQ+ rights and seeing “…cinemas in India [being] burned when her movie…was released in 1996.” Meanwhile, Earth (1998) showcased the horrors of India’s Partition, addressing communal violence and its impact on ordinary people.

The production and release of the final installment of the trilogy, Water (2005), which would expose the mistreatment of widows in India, advocating for women’s dignity and autonomy, was severely delayed. This pause was the result of “…mobs of fundamentalist extremists [who] terrorized the film production, destroyed the sets, and issued death threats against Ms. Mehta and the actors.” However, Mehta stood her ground, challenging the efforts to censor her and advocating for artistic freedom, thereby exercising her freedom of expression. However, her diligence to expose the truth finally paid off and “Water was nominated for nine Genies (winning three) and an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.”

In addition, Midnight’s Children (2012) discussed India’s political history, unpacking important topics like democracy, identity, and oppression. That said, Mehta also “…serves on the board of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Toronto International Film Festival, and on the Minister’s Advisory Council for Arts and Culture (Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport).” As expected, according to Canada’s Walk of Fame, Mehta “…has received numerous honorary degrees and many awards and honours, including the Woman of Distinction, President’s Award from the YMCA, the Governor General’s Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award for Film and, in 2013, appointment as an officer to the Order of Canada.” Needless to say, Mehta has an impressive track record and shows no signs of slowing down, not when there’s more work to be done.

3. Indra Nooyi (USA) – Female Work-Life Balance Advocate

Indra Nooyi blazed the trail for South Asian women as the first South Asian women as the CEO of PepsiCo, which at the time, made her one of only 25 women who were the head of a Fortune 500 company. She is well-known for diversifying PepsiCo’s offerings to include healthy products and more sustainable practices. As such, during her tenure as CEO, ” the company’s annual net profit more than doubled, growing from $2.7 billion to $6.5 billion,” according to the National Women’s History Museum.

Since leaving PepsiCo, Nooyi has served on a number of boards, including Amazon and Deutsche Bank, and “…joined the newly formed CEO Advisory Council of AI-powered data security and management startup Cohesity in 2023,” reports Forbes.

In addition, Nooyi published her book Learnings from My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future (2021). It covered a number of topics, including her experience in business and as a leader, her experience as an immigrant, work-life balance, and much more. Like many of us, Nooyi admits to being human and falling short on the homefront, but she counters that at the level she was at, finding balance is difficult. In fact, National Women’s History Museum highlights that she shared a public “…note to her husband Raj sharing credit for her successes with him: “the truth is, there is no such thing as balancing work and family. It’s a constant juggling act. And many times, it’s the people around us — like our life partners — who make this juggling possible. It’s a reminder that family isn’t female. Family is family.” As such, Nooyi has been vocal about the challenges of balancing professional and personal responsibilities and has championed the need for corporate policies that support women. 

4. Malala Yousafzai (United Kingdom) – Education Advocate

Malala Yousafzai is a household name around the world. Originally from Pakistan, she started to diarize her experience in 2009 for the BBC using an alias while the Taliban took over the Swat district. In the same year, she was featured in The New York Times documentary, Class Dismissed: Malala’s Story, which talked about her “school [being] shut down by the Taliban.”

As a result of her continuing to go to school and speaking out against the Taliban stopping girls from accessing their right to education, in 2012, she was shot by a member of the group while on a school bus. Thankfully, she survived. This attack gave Malala even more prominence, increased awareness about what the Taliban were doing, and catapulted her activist efforts. She and her family relocated to England, and in 2013, “Yousafzai spoke at the United Nations in New York. That same year she published her autobiography entitled, “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.”

She was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament for her activism.” Then, in 2014, Malala, alongside her “…father…established Malala Fund, a charity dedicated to giving every girl an opportunity to achieve a future she chooses. In recognition of [this] work, [Yousafzai] received the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2014 and became the youngest-ever Nobel laureate.” In 2020, Yousafzai graduated from the University of Oxford, where she studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Needless to say, there’s no stopping Yousafzai in her plight to ensure girls across the world receive the education they deserve.

Today, Malala Yousafzai continues to champion girls’ education and women’s rights through several key initiatives:

• Malala Fund – Supports education advocates in countries like Afghanistan, India, and Nigeria to remove barriers for girls.
• Documentary Productions – Produced The Last of the Sea Women (Apple TV+) about Korean free-divers and Bread and Roses (with Jennifer Lawrence) highlighting Afghan women’s struggles under Taliban rule.
• Advocacy Against Gender Apartheid – Calls for international recognition of the Taliban’s restrictions on women as a crime under international law.
• Global Education Efforts – Raises awareness on how conflicts impact girls’ education and urges global accountability.-

5. Rupi Kaur (Canada) – Feminist Literary Advocate

Rupi Kaur, who is originally from Punjab, India, first gained attention when she started sharing her short posts that included a visual component (which would become something she is known for) on social media.

In 2014, at the age of 21, she illustrated, wrote, and self-published her first poetry book Milk And Honey. The book sold 3 million copies and spent over a year on The New York Times Best Seller List. Her simple style has certainly revolutionized poetry as she’s been able to share her poetry with a larger audience that could identify with her message and experiences as a South Asian woman.

That said, while her style of poetry has received criticism, Kaur shared with Rolling Stone that “I’ve realized, it’s not the exact content that people connect with. People will understand and they’ll feel it because it all just goes back to the human emotion. Sadness looks the same across all cultures, races, and communities. So does happiness and joy.”

Since her first book, there’s been no stopping Kaur, who has used her three poetry books to address topics such as immigrant identity, feminism, trauma, love, healing, community, family, and more. Kaur also has a workbook, Healing Through Words (2022), that provides “…guided poetry writing exercises of her own design to help [one] explore themes of trauma, loss, heartache, love, family, healing, and celebration of the self,” according to Amazon.

Kaur has also done a number of tours and, most recently, was featured on Amazon Prime Video with “…Rupi Kaur Live [which] captivates and entralls all with unique stories, humour, and compelling visuals.” Needless to say, Kaur‘s success has demonstrated that poetry can be a catalyst for change and so much more.

6. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Pakistan) – Social Reform Advocate

Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a journalist and documentary filmmaker living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is the first South Asian woman to win two Academy Awards for Saving Face (2012) and A Girl in the River (2015), which brought global attention to acid attacks and honour killings, respectively.

Her films have been powerful as they allowed her to push for legal reforms in Pakistan. For example, according to the International Center for Journalists, the documentary Saving Face “prompted Pakistan’s most populous province to process these cases through anti-terrorism courts to ensure speedier justice.” In addition, A Girl in the River “drew attention to a loophole which allowed these murders to go unpunished. Pakistan’s parliament then passed a law criminalizing honor killings.”

Obaid-Chinoy has also won seven Emmy Awards, as well as “…a Knight International Journalism Award, The Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the Tällberg/Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. She was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2013, the Canadian government awarded her a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal,” according to the World Economic Forum, to name a few.

She worked to help launch the Citizens Archive of Pakistan in 2007, which works to teach people about the history and culture of Pakistan. In addition, she advocates diligently for “…human rights and women’s issues. She has worked with refugees and the disenfranchised from Saudi Arabia to Syria to Timor Leste to the Philippines,” notes Asia Society, and has helped create lasting social change through storytelling.

7. Dr. Shefali Tsabary (USA) – Conscious Parenting Advocate

Dr. Shefali Tsabary is an author, speaker, and clinical psychologist. Dr. Tsabary has a total of seven books under her belt, “…three of which are New York Times best-sellers, including her landmark three books: The Conscious Parent, A Radical Awakening and The Parenting Map.”

She is renowned for being “…a pioneer of Conscious Parenting which is a paradigm-shifting, transformative approach to raising ourselves and our children.” The Conscious Parent describes that “children serve as mirrors of their parents’ forgotten self. Those willing to look in the mirror have an opportunity to establish a relationship with their own inner state of wholeness. Once they find their way back to their essence, parents enter into communion with their children, shifting away from the traditional parent-to-child “know it all” approach and more towards a mutual parent-with-child relationship,” according to Amazon.

Essentially, parents  must heal themselves first to fully care for their children and not pass on their own traumas. Her approach brings together “…Western psychology and Eastern philosophy.”

Aside from her books, Dr. Tsabary has a podcast, Parenting & You, which features parents who are dealing with various issues. The intention is that the show will help humanity; whether or not you have a child is irrelevant. She also has a Conscious Coaching Institute that is intended to help individuals to change their “…life and the lives of others by breaking free from limiting patterns and discovering your true purpose.”

Lastly, Dr. Tsabary has reached so many people over the course of her career through speaking at or working with “Oprah’s networks, TEDx, Masters of Scale, Dalai Lama Center, Kellogg Business School, Wisdom 2.0, [and speaking at] innumerable conferences all over the world.”

8. Dr. Swati Mohan (USA) – Women In STEM Advocate

Everyone came to know Dr. Swati Mohan, a talented Aerospace Engineer, in 2021 for leading the NASA Perseverance Rover landing on Mars, but that project began in 2013. As highlighted by CNN, Dr. Mohan, a South Asian woman, announced that “Perseverance [was] safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life.”

This was a historic and inspirational moment for women and minorities as women in this field are sparse, and there are approximately 1% of South Asian or “Indian Americans” at NASA. Over her career, she has also contributed to other space missions, including “…Cassini, a spacecraft that unearthed countless discoveries about Saturn, and GRAIL, a mission that sent twin spacecraft around the moon.”

Dr. Swati Mohan is a strong advocate for women in STEM, actively working to inspire and support the next generation of female scientists and engineers. Through educational outreach, she has shared her journey as an aerospace engineer with audiences in India as part of the U.S. Speaker Program, encouraging young women to pursue careers in STEM. according to The Telegraph, as in a recent speech she “…highlighted the crucial role of gender representation in space exploration… [applauding] the evolving opportunities for women in space research.” That said, Dr. Mohan’s “…journey spells hope for aspiring scientists, showcasing the limitless possibilities awaiting those who dare to dream.”

She also plays a key role in mentorship and public speaking, having participated in events like Scientific Adventures for Girls, where she has delivered keynote addresses aimed at empowering future female STEM leaders. By openly discussing her experiences, she provides valuable guidance and motivation for aspiring scientists.

Additionally, she highlights the contributions of women in STEM by sharing her experiences at NASA, particularly in missions like Mars 2020. By bringing attention to the critical roles women play in space exploration and engineering, she continues to inspire others to follow similar career paths.

Through these efforts, Dr. Mohan remains a dedicated champion for gender inclusion and representation in science and engineering.

Conclusion

As we come to the end of our powerful list and celebrate International Women’s Day 2025, we recognize that the journey toward securing Accelerating Action for all women and girls is far from over. While progress has been made, lasting change requires continued action, advocacy, and persistence where no one is left behind. Today, we amplify the voices of women who have paved the way and empowered the next generation to lead. We continue the hard work of moving toward a more inclusive and equitable world where every woman and girl can thrive, break barriers, and access better opportunities.

How you can support:

• Support the Supporters: Encouraging fundraising for organizations supporting women and girls.
• Actionable Steps: Individuals and organizations are urged to challenge biases, promote women’s empowerment, and implement proven strategies.
• Global Participation: IWD belongs to everyone, with activities ranging from activism to celebrations.
• Social Media Engagement: The campaign invites people to share their #AccelerateAction pose and statements.