New York, November 2, 1929. Amelia Earhart, along with several other female pilots, formed the first women’s aviation club. The Ninety Nines, they called themselves, inspired by the tally of attendants in their first meeting. In 1966, during her travels to India, Isabelle MacRae, a member of the same club, spied on a sari-clad woman pilot exiting hurriedly from the cockpit of her Piper PA 18 monoplane. Curious, MacRae invited her over for a chat. Little did she know that in 2012, more than three decades later, the same girl would be inducted in the most hallowed circle of aviators that the Ninety Nines had ever created — as a member of the International Forest of Friendship (IFF) where she would join the likes of Charles Lindbergh, the Wright Brothers, Rajiv Gandhi and Amelia Earhart herself. The girl’s name was Rabia Futehally.

As a member of the International Forest of Friendship (IFF), pilot Rabia Futehally has joined the likes of Charles Lindbergh, the Wright Brothers, Rajiv Gandhi and Amelia Earhart. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar