(This BloombergQuint article was first published on 20 November 2017 and has been reposted from The Quint’s archives to mark International Firefighters' Day)
Ninety young women will soon be a part of Mumbai’s Fire Brigade, and it’s taken them nearly six months of gruelling training to get there.
Their training includes demanding physical drills, which range from climbing ladders and rescuing victims to dealing with high pressure situations in a specially designed smoke control room, at the regional command centre in Wadala, Mumbai.
All that stands in their way is a test, which will decide whether they can join the ranks of Mumbai’s firefighters. VN Sangle, officer-in-charge at the Wadala fire station and training centre, says the girls have trained hard and will be posted across the city’s 34 fire stations from 15 December.
Rohini Yankule, one of the trainee firefighters, explains that everyone aims to become a doctor or a lawyer, but she wanted to contribute to society in a different way. She told BloombergQuint:
In our homes, the mindset is that a girl should be married as soon as she turns 18. But, we wanted to change that sort of thinking. When I saw officers in uniform, I always thought they inspired me and so I am lucky that I’ve been given a chance to join this force today.
BloombergQuint spent a day with these wonder women, and realised that their training regime is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
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