KOZHIKODE: For years, the statement “I’m from Wayanad” has elicited a predictable smile and familiar joke: “So, you move from one place to another using vines?”
The line, a playful take on means of transport in a district characterised by steep hills, dense forests and mist-laced terrain, has long followed people of this high-range land. 29-year-old Zeenath Sherbin of Sultan Bathery has herself heard it countless times.
However, the land once imagined as inaccessible has now sent a woman to the skies. Zeenath has etched her name in history as Wayanad’s first woman pilot, joining an elite list of fewer than 20 women pilots from Kerala who are working across the globe.
Zeenath says her interest in aviation grew organically. With her father working in Dubai, flights were a frequent part of her growing years.
“Every journey made me more curious about this huge metallic bird that could carry people across countries and continents,” she tells TNIE.
Unlike many who nurture childhood dreams of flying, Zeenath’s journey was more understated.
“I wasn’t someone who grew up with a fixed dream of becoming a pilot. Coming from a small town and rarely seeing pilots in everyday life, it didn’t feel easily achievable,” she recalls. The moment that changed everything arrived unexpectedly at home.
As she helped her cousin, fresh out of Class 12, explore career options, Zeenath found herself passionately explaining aviation, flying and the life it offered. Her father, Yousuff T K, who had been listening quietly, then asked: “Why don’t you do it then?”
“That question changed everything,” says Zeenath. “It made me realise this wasn’t just fascination. It was something I truly wanted, something I could actually pursue.”
Her aviation journey took her far from home, to the Sierra Academy of Aeronautics in California, US.
The training, she admits, was demanding. While the academic aspect was manageable, the mental challenge was far greater.
Flying, she explains, is not just about theory but about mastering landings, navigating instruments, making split-second decisions and shouldering the responsibility of controlling an aircraft. “The pressure was intense and mentally exhausting, but every small improvement felt like a big win,” she says. Her first solo flight remains etched in memory. “After days and nights of flying with my instructor, being suddenly sent up alone felt surreal,” she recalls. The silence inside the cockpit, the adrenaline rush and the realisation that she was flying entirely on her own marked a turning point. “In that moment, I went from feeling like a baby pilot to someone truly trusted with an aircraft.”
Aviation in India, though still largely male-dominated, is seeing a gradual change. “What’s shifting is the visibility. Every time a young girl sees a woman in uniform, the idea of becoming a pilot feels a little more plausible,” she says.