Dear Lady, when are you going the family way?

Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mahasweta Devi, Sushma Swaraj, Saina Nehwal, Irom Sharmila: the week that was kept us busy reading about great women from across the globe (oh yes, there was Marissa Mayer too). The icing on the cake was reading about Sania Mirza stumping Rajdeep Sardesai when he asked her about motherhood. Boy! Wasn’t that a slap on everyone’s face who till date believes that a woman is only settled when she has kids? More power to you girl!

A friend of mine appeared for a job interview recently and was asked by the HR manager, “what are your family plans, considering you have completed a year of marriage”. I wasn’t amused with that question though, being in HR myself, I have personally faced many functional managers who have debated with me as to why getting an answer to that question is important before an offer is rolled out. So while I was trying to tell her that she should be prepared to answer that question often, I recalled stories of women in my close network who have constantly faced troubles at work.

When my last organization suddenly decided to shut shop, I had a team member who had just conceived, and she was in a flux- whether to be honest about her pregnancy in her job interviews or not. She couldn’t have just left her career mid-way just because a company she trusted with her career decided to leave her? And she was sure that if she told people that she was expecting a baby, she wouldn’t be hired.

One of my friends now works as a consultant in the same organization where she spent 7 years of her corporate life. Now with two kids and a joint family, working as consultant offered her reduced working hours and less work stress. She tells me, that even after working for more than a year as a consultant (on a massive pay-cut), she still hears taunts like, “aapka toh time ho gaya hoga jaane ka”, “aap bade lucky ho jo jaldi chale jaate ho”.

While more and more examples of power women emerging make a strong case for a more gender equal society, my worry is that all that is much easier to do if you have established your individual abilities and become a specialist in something. The road is still bumpy for those who are still in early stages of work life, figuring out what their true potential is and still working under the instructions of someone else. And that number is far too many.

While the new age corporate policies are helping women get that cushion, it’s still a long journey for our tribe and we should be prepared to face, accept and strive towards our self-defined work home balance.

In my next post, I’ll address anxieties & problems that a woman faces before the impending career break and how a return back to corporate can be managed well. Stay tuned and subscribe to storysideup.com updates so that you don’t miss any post!