The Power of “Gutsy Girls of Science”

Ilina-Singh

A consummate wordsmith, Ms Ilina Singh, has brought alive the stories of ‘Gutsy Girls of Science’ in her maiden book published by Harper Collins. Still in her teens, the class 11 student of Shriram School Gurgaon wears many hats and has won several national competitions in writing and coding, including the Google Code2Learn Contest 2021. She believes in gender equality and has developed a ML tool - www.ilinasartthrob.com – that can detect gender bias in textbooks and stories.

•       The title “Gutsy Girls of Science”, how did the idea of this theme come to you and why did you choose only women from the world of science?

The idea of writing “Gutsy Girls of Science” started with an innocuous question while exploring career options in science, a subject for which I have immense passion. When doing so, I realised that there are few Indian women scientists. Coincidently, a tweet of Hon’ble Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Mrs Smriti Zubin Irani, with pictures of 11 women scientists recognised by the Indian government, caught my attention and inspired me. I realised that many girls of my age must have never heard of them. So, I decided to write a book that would encourage girls to take up science. Conventionally, boys are assumed to be qualitatively better in science than girls and it took these pioneers in science  a lot of guts to break that barrier. I want to do so myself and encourage other young girls too.

•       What was your experience as you progressed with the book and how long did it take to write it?

Interestingly, the idea of the book did not come first. Arts, is a hobby that I love to indulge in and so I began by drawing portraits of women scientists, which got a lot of positive reactions, especially of Madam Smriti Irani, when I met her in her office and showed my works to her.  She supported my idea, which encouraged me to start writing poems and stories about Indian women scientists. It took me nearly a year beginning in April 2020 to March 2021 to complete “Gutsy Girls of Science”. I got a lot of free time to ideate and write the book as it was the Covid pandemic lockdown period.

•       Do you have plans to write another book and what would be the theme?

I do have plans to write another book and it would be about women equality, which is a topic very close to my heart. The idea is still in its nascent stage and yet to take a concrete shape. I personally think books and words have a great way of conveying ideas and more than anything else books can influence your thought process, your ideas and your dreams. Currently, I am excited about finetuning my new project - a machine learning tool tracking gender bias through stories. 

•       How did the moment feel when a publisher as reputed as Harper Collins agreed to publish your work?

It’s like a dream come true for me when Harper Collins, a reputed name in the world of books, published my book. They were very supportive. I also did get a lot of support from different quarters, including the UNESCO, who came on board as part of this project. It was another great moment for me when our Hon’ble Prime Minster, Mr Narendra Modi, lauded my work. I would say that it is almost a group project where so many people came together to make it possible. I owe this achievement to my parents, who have been very supportive throughout in realizing my dream project. The source of inspiration for this concept has been my mother, who is an engineer and all the other superbly talented women in science I have discovered.

Ms. Ilina Singh, Author - Gusty Girls of Science, Class 11 student at Shriram School Aravali Gurgaon Ms. Ilina Singh, Author - Gusty Girls of Science, Class 11 student at Shriram School Aravali Gurgaon

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