80th Birth Anniversary of the Great Indian Swimmer Arati Saha - Bharat Ki Jalpari

Google keeps celebrating special occasions with its Doodle.  Today (Thursday) Google Doodle is celebrating the 80th birth anniversary of the great Indian swimmer Arati Saha.  In today's doodle dedicated to Saha, the 'Jalpari of India', he is shown crossing the English Channel.

Arati Saha was the first Asian female swimmer to cross the English Channel.  In swimming, this feat is considered equivalent to climbing Mount Everest.  It was a 42 mile (67.5 km) journey starting from Cape Gris Nez in France to Sandgate in England.  Saha covered this distance in 16 hours and 20 minutes.

80th Birth Anniversary of the Great Indian Swimmer Arati Saha - Bharat Ki Jalpari

Who is Arati Saha?

Aarti Saha was born on 24 September 1940 in Kolkata.  He won his first swimming gold medal at the age of just 5.  Saha learned to swim on the banks of the Hooghly River.  He later trained under the supervision of one of India's best competitive swimmers, Sachin Nag.

Saha was the youngest member of the first team to represent the newly independent India at the Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952.  At that time, he was only 11 years old.

Saha made his first attempt at crossing the English Channel at the age of 18.  She was not successful in this effort.  However, he did not give up.  Just a month later, on 29 September 1959, Aarti Saha, in a second attempt, showed the ability to cross the English Channel after being hit for 16 hours and 20 minutes by waves and strong currents.

Aarti Saha was honored with Padma Shri in 1960.  She was the first woman to receive the Padma Shri Award.  India Post also released a postage stamp in the year 1998 to inspire women from their lives.  Aarti died on 24 September 1994 at the age of 53.  Today, Google has dedicated its doodle to the birth anniversary of this great personality.

What is English Channel ?

The English Channel is the longest and coldest stream of water that separates South England and Northern France.  This English channel connects the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.  Due to low temperature and swimming difficulties, it is called 'Mount Everest of Swimming'.

Courtesy - india.com