The Lady Who Designed Param Vir Chakra SARASIJ MAJUMDER The Param Vir Chakra , the highest Gallantry Award of Indian Army was designed by Savitri Khanolkar, a Swiss national whose real name was Eve Yvonne Maday de Maros. She was married to an Indian army officer Vikram Ramji Khanolkar. She was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland to a Hungarian father and Russian mother. Her father André de Maday was a professor of sociology at Geneva University, while her mother Marthe Hentzelt, taught at the Rosseau Institute. In 1929, she met Vikram Khanolkar, a young Indian Army cadet, undergoing training at Sandhurst, who had come to Switzerland for a break. She was still a teenager then, however both fell in love, though Vikram was much older to her. She came to India in 1932, though her father was not too keen , married Vikram in Lucknow. She changed her name to Savitri Bai after marriage. In spite of her European background, she quickly adapted herself to Hindu tradition. She be...