Meet Kanika Tekriwal, the ‘small town girl’ who owns 10 private jets

On Instagram, Kanika Tekriwal describes herself as a “small town girl” with massive dreams. In reality, she is so much more.

At the age of 22, Kanika Tekriwal set up her own aviation-based startup after defying cancer, parental opposition and casual sexism. A decade later, this high-flying entrepreneur owns 10 private jets. Her company JetSetGo -- India's first and only marketplace for private jet and helicopter charters – has been credited for transforming the charter plane sector in India.

“I had the idea brewing in my head for close to three years or so, but when I took out my sketch board and started working on it, I was diagnosed with cancer, which set me back by a year,” Kanika Tekriwal told Indiatimes. “Luckily for me, nobody else in the country had gotten around to doing something similar until I finished treatment or until now.”

The journey was not an easy one for Tekriwal, who was born in a traditional Marwari family where women were not encouraged to work. But Tekriwal was passionate about her mission of making private flying more accessible and economical, and she overcame all odds to set up JetSetGo, which she started in 2012 with her friend Sudheer Perla.