Indian Air Force personnel parade during the 85th Air Force Day celebrations at Hindon Air Force base in Ghaziabad on October 8, 2017. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

Women labourers work at the construction site of a road in Kolkata January 8, 2015. Across towns and cities in India, it is not uncommon to see women cleaning building sites, carrying bricks and or shoveling gravel – helping construct the infrastructure necessary for the country's economic and social development. They help build roads, railway tracks, airports, and offices. They lay pipes for clean water supplies, cables for telecommunications, and dig the drains for sewage systems. But although women make up at least 20 percent of India's 40 million construction workers, they are less recognized than male workers with lower pay and often prone to safety hazards and sexual harassment. They are often unaware of their rights or scared to complain, say activists now trying to campaign for better treatment of women in the construction industry. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

People dressed as Santa Claus dance during an event as a part of Christmas celebrations in Chennai on December 22, 2024. (Photo by R.Satish Babu/AFP Photo)

Schoolchildren with face paint resembling tigers take part in a “Kids for Tigers” campaign in Bangalore, India 27 January 2023. The campaign tries to raise awareness on environmental education with outreach programs, workshops, and information on saving tigers in schools and colleges across the country. (Photo by Jagadeesh N.V./EPA/EFE)

A boy dressed as Hindu Lord Shiva poses before performing in a religious procession at the Mahashivratri festival in Allahabad, India, March 7, 2016. Hindus across the country celebrate Mahashivratri, better known as Lord Shiva's wedding anniversary. (Photo by Jitendra Prakash/Reuters)

Devotees of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) celebrate Holi, the Hindu spring festival of colours, at a temple on the outskirts of Amritsar on March 13, 2025. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

An Indian bride adjusts her veil during a mass marriage ceremony in Ahmadabad, India, Sunday, October 11, 2015. Sixty five Muslim couples tied the knot in a single ceremony organized by a social organization. (Photo by Ajit Solanki/AP Photo)

Hindu women apply “sindhur”, or vermillion powder, on the face of a woman after worshipping the idol of the Hindu goddess Durga on the last day of the Durga Puja festival in Chandigarh, India October 11, 2016. (Photo by Ajay Verma/Reuters)