The British Council hosted The GREAT Talk in Delhi with renowned Tracey Curtis-Taylor delivering an inspirational lecture on ‘Celebrating the accomplishments of women in aviation and engineering industry’ at Sadhu Vaswani International Girls School

Launched by the British Council, The GREAT Talk series is aimed at motivating young Indian students to plan their careers by interacting with eminent personalities from the UK. The platform offers students a once in a lifetime opportunity to engage with distinguished UK speakers who bring insightful, real world experiences and outlook to their academic pursuits.                

‘Believe nothing to be impossible and don’t let any force stop you in following your dream’, were inspiring words shared by Bi Plane Pilot Tracey Curtis Taylor as she interacted with students and teachers from  the school in New Delhi.

600 students of classes VI – X were enthralled as they listened to Tracey speak about her many achievements, challenges and inspiration. Tracey also shared a video from her flight to Africa during her talk.

‘Why are you called Bird in a Biplane, Tracey?’ a student asked. ‘Well, I was quite fascinated with Eagles as a youngster and would spend hours watching them hover in the open sky. I love birds and hence the name’, Tracey said. 

Tracey’s talk was special to all the young girls at Sadhu Vaswani School who saw her as a living example of an inspiring woman, who was not afraid to chase after her dreams and (literally!) reach the skies. Her tales of flying around the world and braving bad weather and unplanned encounters made for an exciting talk and left the students filled with wonder.

She spoke about her journey from Great Britain to Australia and how it was a tribute to the fearless Amy Johnson whose solo flight to Australia in 1930 stunned the world. She further encouraged the girls to take up roles in the field of Science and Engineering which continues to be a male dominated turf.

Tracey was flooded with questions from students. The Principal and teachers were immensely impressed and believed the talk had certainly enthused their school students  who would be interested in exploring their passions, be it in the STEM field or otherwise.

Tracey Curtis-Taylor said, “The GREAT Talk is a wonderful initiative started by the British Council to engage, encourage and inspire young students. Through my talk today I wish to highlight the achievements of women pilots and emphasise the critical role women play in the aviation industry. We need to provide young people with new enthralling examples of adventure that reflect the great achievements of our pioneering fore bearers. I believe a UK Education offers students a plethora of opportunities and high-quality education to enhance their career prospects.”

This is the third talk of the series where the inaugural lecture was given by Professor Sugata Mitra in Chennai last month followed by an inspiring talk by Mr. Jon Turney in Kolkata earlier this month. Ms Taylor recently gave her Talk in Ahmedabad before joining us here in Delhi today.

THE GREAT TALK is a multi-city initiative, with talks scheduled in New Delhi and Mumbai with other prominent UK speakers over the next few months. The next GREAT talk is scheduled for 8 December in Delhi at British Council with Professor Nigel Thrift, Vice – Chancellor of Warwick University.

For more information please contact:

Arushi Gupta, Manager - GREAT Education Campaign, Services for International Education Marketing