By IANS,
Bhubaneswar/New Delhi : Thousands of people from all walks of life Wednesday paid tribute to Gyan Patnaik, one of India’s earliest women pilots and the widow of former Orissa chief minister Biju Patnaik.
Gyan, 89, died at Delhi in the early hours of Tuesday after a bout of pneumonia.
Thousands made a beeline to Naveen Nivas, the residence of her son and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhabaneswar, since early morning and offered floral tributes.
People stood on both sides of the road and bid a tearful farewell when her mortal remains were taken to the temple city of Puri for funeral.
Her body was cremated at swarga dwar (gate way to heaven) at Puri, where her husband was cremated 11 years ago.
“She was a woman of substance who had a will of steel,” President Pratibha Patil said in her condolence message to Naveen Patnaik.
“In a time when women were still struggling to gain widespread acceptance in the society to take up careers, she ventured into a career full of adventure, by training to become a pilot,” the president said.
“She was also aware of the need to popularise science and using it for the upliftment of society, which she did through the Kalinga Foundation,” Patil said.
In his message, the prime minister said Gyan was “a role model for women at a time when they were trying to make their mark in the mainstream of Indian society”.
“Her exemplary career as a pilot and dedication to ensure the reach of science for the benefit of the masses through the Kalinga Foundation, will be remembered for years to come,” he added.
Gyan Patnaik is survived by her two sons, Prem and Naveen and writer-daughter Geeta Mehta. Naveen, who stayed with his mother until he entered politics in 1997, was by her bedside when she died at their family house on Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi.
Gyan was one of the first women in the country to get a commercial pilot’s licence in the 1930s. She flew with her legendary husband during World War II to rescue Indonesian leader Soekarno from Dutch-besieged Java.
Biju, who was a pilot with the Royal Indian Air Force during World War II, married Gyan, a Punjabi from Lahore in 1938. The flamboyant Biju flew the groom’s party to Lahore for the wedding.