Iram Habib Zargar: Meet Jammu and Kashmir's first Muslim woman pilot

Iram Habib Zargar has been hired by Indigo airlines as a commercial pilot. She has broken many stereotypes by setting out for a career which is disapproved by a majority of the people in Jammu and Kashmir.

The 30-year-old, unlike a lot of Kashmiri girls who grow up in a conservative society and restrict their career ambitions to professions like medicine, engineering or teaching, had different plans.

Coming from a business family in the volatile downtown Srinagar city, Iram first set out to become a forestry officer when she pursued her bachelors in forestry from Forest Research Institute in Dehradun. She returned to Kashmir and went on to complete her masters in forestry at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Forestry Sciences, Srinagar.

She was also chosen to study post-doctorate (PhD) at SKAUST–K.

But, she reportedly left her PhD studies after one and a half years and explored the training options to realize her dream of flying.

Her parents and relatives, however, were skeptical and it took Iram few years to convince them so that she pursues her dreams.

Finally, she took off to Miami in the United States where she studied and passed her exams . She completed 260 hours of flying in Canada and the US.

"But I always wanted to get back to India and start flying here," Iram told The Tribune.

When she arrived in India, Iram had job offers from commercial airlines like Indigo and GoAir. "Although, I am all set to fly now, my relatives still don't think I have made a wise decision," Iram reportedly said.