ISRO engineer Khushbu is Amroha’s pride

Story by  ATV | Posted by  Aasha Khosa • 2 Years ago
Khushbu Mirza at an ISRO event
Khushbu Mirza at an ISRO event

 

Ratna Shukla Anand/Delhi

Khushbu Mirza’s story of being raised in Amroha, a town in western Uttar Pradesh, amidst a conservative society by her mother to becoming a key member of Chandrayan-1 at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is phenomenal.

Khushbu hails from Mohalla Chagauri of the town famous for the fish and mango variety. She was the leader of the Chandrayaan-1 checkout team and also the youngest member of the mission that saw India put its footprints on the Moon.

Currently, she is a member of the Chandrayaan-2 research team.

Khushbu’s  life was not easy as when she was seven years old her father Sikandar Mirza passed away. Her mother Farhar Mirza, who was a graduate, took up the responsibility of raising Khushbu and her siblings - brother Khushtar Mirza and younger sister Mehak.

To ensure that her children get good education Farhat sent them to the best school in the town. Being a progressive woman she also left her home to take charge of her husband’s petrol pump. That wasn’t easy for a Muslim woman and she had to face taunts and disapproval of society.

As a tribute to her husband who was an engineer by profession, Farhat motivated her three children to study in engineering colleges.

Khushbu graduated from Aligarh Muslim University in Electronics Engineering; she was the gold medalist of her batch. During her school and college, Khushbu played Volleyball. She also became the first woman to contest the student union election in AMU.

Khushbu Mirza inside the testing center at ISRO

After joining ISRO as a scientist; she rose to the rank of technician at ISRO in 2006. She joined a team that was building equipment and software to receive data from the satellite that will soon land on the Moon.

She led the checkout team of Chandrayaan-1 at ISRO and played an important role in its successful launch in 2008. Later she also joined the team of Chandrayaan-2 mission that is expected to be launched next year.

Khushbu said her faith and tradition never came in the way of her job. She fasted and offered prayers in  Ramazan and also celebrated Eid with her colleagues in the testing centre.

Her brother Khushtar Mirza says their family is progressive; does respect the faith and traditions but they are not orthodox.

He says all the three had struggled in their childhood. When Khushbu was going to join ISRO, their mother had to run around with her while facing the opposition of society.

At that stage, Farhat told her daughter to ditch the burqa and wear a shirt and trousers.

Khushbu with her husband

Khushtar says after the Chandrayaan-1 mission, when Khushbu’s picture with President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was printed in a local newspaper, everyone appreciated the choices made by Khushbu and her mother. The entire town came to congratulate the family.

Khushbu is now a big inspiration for the girls of Amrohay. Everyone want their daughters’ to go to school and become like her.

When she is visiting her hometown, Khushbu is invited as the chief guest and speaker in educational institutions. Khushtar and Mehak are also engineers.

Khushbu Mirza recently got married. She is currently posted at ISRO's Regional Remote Sensing Center.