Some people don’t settle for the ordinary. This is a bigger feat than it appears at first, because society is quick to check when you deviate from its set paths. But here are five, fun and fearless women who weren’t deterred by the hurdles and proved true the saying ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way’. Instep picks five Pakistani superwomen who you should know about.
Samina Baig
It seems that Samina Baig took the popular idiom ‘The sky is the limit’ to heart. The 24-year-old mountaineer and adventurist, who hails from the luscious lands of Gilgit - Baltistan, is the first Pakistani woman, youngest Muslim woman and third female in the world to climb the towering 8848 ft high Mount Everest. Samina was only 21 years old when she achieved this feat! A short length documentary titled Beyond the Heights tells the story of her brave climb up the Mount Everest.
Naseem Hameed
How many people can sprint at a bullet’s speed? Naseem Hameed has earned the unofficial title of ‘Queen of Tracks’ by being the fastest female sprinter of South Asia. The 27-year-old professional runner started her dream from school races and local sprinting practices and ended up cinching the gold medal at 2010 South Asian Games in Dhaka. The then president Asif Ali Zardari also entrusted the position of Ambassador of Sports at the SAF games to Naseem.
Namira Salim
An explorer by heart and an artist by vision, Namira Salim is Pakistan’s first astronaut. But that’s not her only claim to fame: she also became the first Pakistani to reach the North Pole in 2007, the first Pakistani to reach the South Pole in 2008 and the first South Asian to skydive over Mount Everest later that year. Selected from a pool of 44,000 applicants, Namira was among the 100 space tourists selected for Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial space liner. She received Pakistan’s fourth highest civilian honor Tamgha e Imtiaz in 2011, and continues her work as an avid world peace advocate through her artworks frequently displayed at United Nation events.Ayesha Farooq
In the male dominated world of armed forces in Pakistan, Flight Lieutenant Ayesha Farooq is the first of six combat-ready female officers who have passed exams that qualify them to fight during wartime. The 27-year-old from Bahawalpur is the only woman in the all-male Squadron 20 and will fly missions in aChinese-made F7PG fighter jet.‘I don’t feel any different. We do the same activities, the same precision bombing,’ said Flt Lt Farooq.Samya Arif
Born in Spain and a graduate of the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, Samya Arif has stunned the Karachi art community and creative buffs with her intricate and distinctive psychedelic art works and digital prints. Giving the viewer a surreal visual experience, Samya’s work is a blend of vibrant colour schemes, mystical figures, conceptual typography and varying patterns. From her eye-catching posters and Illuminati eye themed prints to her cover art for popular Sufi rock band Meekal Hasan’s second album Andholan, Samya convinces us all that she’s an artist we should watch out for.