Battling The Crosswinds | Captain Zoya Agarwal | TEDxIIITBangalore

“Believe in your heart that you're meant to live a life full of passion, purpose, magic and miracles.”. In this inspiring talk, Captain Zoya Agarwal talks about the importance of perseverance and consistency to achieve whatever one wants in life. She also talks about the significance of enduring hardships with grit and wisdom, while standing by one’s ideals and facing challenges head-on in the face of any crosswinds that may come in the way. Being a spokesperson for United Nations, flying over the north pole in one of the world’s longest flights with an all-women crew, and piloting the first Boeing 777 over the Hindu Kush range, she has time and again proven that a human with fiery passion can literally touch the stars.
Captain Zoya Agarwal , Senior Commander, Boeing 777, and UN Women Spokesperson for Generation Equality, was the youngest woman pilot to fly a Boeing-777 in 2013. On 9th January 2021, she created history by flying the world’s longest non-stop air route between San Francisco & Bengaluru with an all-female flight crew over the North Pole. During the covid pandemic, she was part of the Indian Government's operation Vande Bharat Mission to bring back around 14,800 stranded Indians from 12 countries and was chosen to co-pilot the first repatriation flight by the airline and was acknowledged by The Times of India as a Rising Female Aviator of India.
She was also applauded for saving a passenger’s life in 2015 when he needed urgent medical attention. By turning back an Air India Boeing mid-air and landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Her unflinching perseverance to achieve her goals is a huge inspiration for everyone skeptical about following their dreams This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx