There are situations and there are choices. We can get swamped by the situation and take cover behind the wall of conventions, norms, social roles and excuses or we can choose to look for the way forward despite the stresses and strains. Some of us get overwhelmed. Some settle in a comfort zone. Some keep the flame alive and some go out and seize the opportunities.
The most formidable ones pave the way forward. They are the ones who have made it possible for women today to have a slew of choices. From a job market that limited women to a few jobs, to a time where women are leading in every sector and have the freedom to make choices about their lives, their education, career, finances and hours of work.
SHEROES is leading the movement to widen the choices and make this, as outgoing US President Barack Obama put it, an “extraordinary time to be a woman.” Recently we had a leading television channel profile Sheroes as a trailblazing Unicorn. We were joined by 3 women from our community who we would like to profile for the way in which they aced the situation they found themselves in and inspired us.
Divia Bharaj took a break from her regular job to raise a family. Post motherhood, she was determined to use her personal management skills to ace all areas of her life, “I told my husband that I can do it all - manage home, husband, child, office and the family dog.” There was no question of settling for a part time job and through SHEROES she returned to professional work and got a fulltime job as an EA to the CEO of a leading Finance company.
Preeti Sharma is an HR Manager. After the birth of her twin daughters she made a conscious choice to be fully involved in bringing them up rather than hand them over to a caregiver. However she kept her career aspirations alive and found out about SHEROES during a visit to the Pediatrician. She aced her choice when she turned to work from home projects, “I have been occupied with consecutive work from home projects, one after the other, ever since I turned to flex options.” She manages the best of both worlds, brilliantly today.
Tanushree came in with her mother and two month old son. “I have always been an entrepreneur and used to travel 50% of the time. After the birth of my daughter, I was actively looking to get back into the workforce. Through SHEROES, I found a flex option in Sales and Business Development with an Educational consultancy.” She had been in the Education sector and wondered how she would manage to get back. Today she has aced her choice with home, motherhood and part time work.
They all agreed on the need for personal expression through work and we were motivated by the enterprising spirit of these women.
We are proud of how far we have come and know there is still a lot to be done-more career opportunities tailored for the life cycle of women, equal wages, protecting our right to move freely, reclaiming our bodies and sexual rights. However this does not come about only through laws and legal diktats. It happens when we step forward to make the choices and see them through. In fact this is the toughest of all-acing our choices and being the best. Then we will raise the ceiling before we shatter it.
Catch these women live on NDTV-Prime on this coming Saturday (12th Nov,2016) at 4:30pm and then on Sunday at 10am and Monday at 9pm