The Double X Factor

The Double-X Factor profiles 99 women who challenged gender barriers and rose to prominence in India. The line-up runs from historical figures such as Rani Lakshmibai and Indira Gandhi to modern achievers such as Chanda Kochhar and Mary Kom. Others featured include Zia Mody, Neerja Bhanot and Anita Dongre.

The book draws on a long Indian tradition of women showing valour, fortitude, self-sacrifice and leadership in times of crisis. Some of these women have passed into folklore and many have been portrayed in films. Across politics, the arts, entertainment, sports and business, they made places for themselves in fields once seen as male territory, and they now serve as role models for a nation of 1.34 billion people, nearly half of them women.