Pratibha Patil: A glorious first

India got its first woman president, in the 60th year since Independence. Not bad, considering the Americans haven't managed to put a woman in the Oval office although it's been more than 200 years...

When the name was mentioned first during the hunt for candidates, most people said, "Pratibha Who?" Silly, considering she was no debutante.

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Pratibha Patil was a long-time politician and was then the governor of Rajasthan. But to everyone outside the group looking at the names, she was a nobody She went on to comfort . ably beat veteran Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who, unfortunately for him, ended an illustrious career in politics with a defeat.

India got its first woman president, in the 60th year since Independence. Not bad, considering the Americans haven't managed to put a woman in the Oval office although it's been more than 200 years since their country won independence - they may get lucky in 2008 though, if Hillary Clinton manages the ticket and wins.

India got its first woman head of government (Pratibha Patil is the first head of state) even earlier - Indira Gandhi in 1966.