Prem Mathur was born on 17th January 1910 in Aligarh, Pradesh. While at Aligarh, her father got a transfer, and the family had to relocate to Allahabad. She was the youngest among five siblings and was unfortunate as she lost her mother when she was barely six months old. She began her education at Annie Besant School and proceeded to Ewing Christian College for her secondary education. She then pursued her bachelor’s degree at Allahabad University. Mathur’s elder brother was a flight instructor while the younger brother was a businessman. The younger brother bought some of the old aircraft from the war and hired Capt. Atal of Delhi Flying Club to deliver a plane he was selling to Colombo. Mathur’s dream to be in the cockpit started after the hired captain Atal took her for a ride and performed most of the aerobatics he knew to scare her, but she wasn’t frightened. Instead, she enjoyed the trip and asked if she could be given another ride. Atal arranged for future rides and would sometimes leave her the controls with instructions. Mathur saw a paper from Atal scripted ‘You are a tough woman. You can become a pilot. Why don’t you try?’ The text motivated her, and she settled on a decision to become a pilot. In October 1948, a new club was opened in Allahabad by the managing director of Lucknow Flying Club, and Captain Atal was appointed the instructor. Mathur was the first student, and her determination led her to master the skill and was soon flying without the need of an instructor. In 1949, her club got invited to a race, and she was eager to participate in it. She was the only woman in the race, but she was strong and never gave in to criticism. She amazed everybody when she arrived at all the destinations first and made the headlines. After the victory, she headed back to Delhi for her commercial license test. She was rejected by eight airlines, but Deccan Airlines later came to her rescue, making her the first female commercial pilot in India. Captain Prem Mathur mysteriously died on 22nd December 1992 at the age of 82.

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