16. A. Lalitha - First woman Electrical Engineer (1919 -1977)

 

Ayyala Somayajulu Lalita was the first successful woman to enter the engineering field in India, which was almost completely dominated by men. It is a fact that women have not been able to completely break this male dominance even in this era where women are still reluctant to join some engineering branches (e.g. mechanical).

It is true that simple engineering was taken up as a profession because of several circumstances. Lalita got married when she was just 15 years old. But before she turned 18, she was widowed and destined to fend for herself with her four-month-old daughter. He had to look for a job to raise his daughter and support his family.

Lalita was a normal child who studied well in school and her father was an electrical engineer. So even as a widow with one child, she wanted to study further. But the first problem was what to study. Even then, the first and foremost interest of the girls, who were studying well, was for   medical profession. But she chose engineering because she felt that the rigors of a medical education could not be sustained while raising her baby. But there was also the problem. In the 1930s, engineering was an all-male field. Not a single woman had joined engineering. Guindy Engineering College was the only engineering institution in South India at that time. Lalita was admitted there with the special recommendation of her father who was a professor there. Lalita's goal was to make her mark by becoming the first electrical engineer there. That year they were alone but the next year two more people joined the same college.

She travelled to many cities and did commendable service, but had limitations. As a widow and mother of one child, she had difficulty going to work in the field. Throughout her professional careers, she  constantly tried to make it possible for women to work in this job along with  men. She has also become an inspiration to many lady engineers.

Early life and education

Ayyalasomayajulu Lalitha was born on August 27, 1919 in a Telugu speaking family in Madras. She got married at the age of 15. In 1937, a girl, Shyamala, was born to them. Her husband died four months after the birth of her daughter. Lalitha's father Pappu Subba Rao was ready to do all the help to complete Lalitha's education. After completing her  high school education, she joined the all-male Guindy College of Engineering. Along with Lalitha were Kerala's first women engineers, PK Thresya and Leelamma Koshi. It was also welcome that the college administrators and fellow students were fully supportive while the first year was easy. Because of this, she did not have to suffer any hardship of being only one girl. Lalitha had told her daughter that they were not harmed even by one of their classmates. The college authorities had prepared a separate hostel for Lalitha to stay. While the mother was studying, the daughter was staying with her uncle. She used to come to see her  daughter during the weekend. Lalita completed her electrical engineering education in 1943. Thus, she became India's first woman engineer. She then completed her one-year apprenticeship at the Jamalpur Railway Workshop.

 

After graduation and training, Lalita first joined the Central Standards Institute in Shimla. She was able to help her  father build a smokeless electric stove and make an electric harmonium called the Electromonium. After another year of training in the Eastern Indian Railways, he continued to work as a technical assistant in the Electrical Commissioner's Office. Following this, in 1948, she joined Associated Electrical Industries (AEI), a British company in Calcutta, and joined the Bhakra Nangal project, India's largest dam. Lalita also played a crucial role in the design of the transmission lines and substations there. Although AEI later became General Electric Company, she remained there for almost thirty years until she retired in 1977.

In 1953 Lalita  was honoured as an associate member of the London Council of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). She became a full member in 1966. She was also the only woman engineer to attend the first International Conference of Women Electrical Engineers in New York in 1964. Lalitha was subsequently made a member of the Society of British Women Engineers. She went on to become a member of the organizing committee of the Second International Conference of Women Engineers held in Cambridge in July 1967. She also ensured the participation of five women engineers from India in that conference.

 

Lalita did not marry after her husband's death. From the rest of her life she lived with her husband's sister, who helped Lalitha a lot in raising her daughter. Daughter Shyamala studied science and became a maths teacher.

Lalitha died in 1977 at the age of 60 due to a brain disease.

reference

https://www.magnificentwomen.co.uk/engineer-of-the-week/76-ayyalasomayajula-lalitha