- by Apurva Purohit
The CEO of Radio City 91.1 FM, with her wit, style, anecdotes has written her side of the story of coroporate dynamics, issues women face at work and home and what could be done to adapt to the expectations - be it at home or at work - and it made a fabulous read. What I particularly enjoyed is the way I could connect to most of the incidents in the book and while my reactions wouldn’t have been the same, majority of women do make those choices and majority of the men I do meet have the same mindset. It is frustrating to work as hard as your male counterpart, only to be always seen as a second fiddle that has to be carried on, but never have a driver seat. Come promotions or hikes, there is always that risk of not getting your share - because you are female!
Some of the points she made in the book do ring a resounding bell. I particularly agree to the point that we do not need reservations to be promoted, to get a place at the table, to voice our opinion. We may not have a loud voice, but we do have a sound logic and we don’t need reservations to carve a place for ourselves in the corporate world, provided the judges do perceive us to be co-workers and not just females. However, in this time of fighting for equality, despite having commanding women in leadership roles, it still is a sad reality that our work ethic or competency are not the only factors that decide whether we get that role or no. And hence, sometimes, that reservation does make sense, despite the feminist in me biting her tongue in mute anger at this statement.
Other point that hit the nail is the pregnancy phase of a women’s life. Men, have some physical limitations - lets face it, men are incapable of having a child. It is the women who need to bear that burden. And during that phase, it is difficult to put career in the forefront - men have the luxury of pursuing their goals, careers - but women don’t. And it is not just the pregnancy phase, but beyond that - as, again, lets face it - Indian men are brought up with the mentality of being breadwinners of the family and hence, taking care of a person and house is incomprehensible to them. Women, on the other hand, are ‘allowed’ to pursue their hobby of a career, as long as the home life is undisturbed. SO, she is perpetually in the state of having to make choice of family, husband, child - (I think woman becomes a mom than a wife when she is married!!) - donning multiple hats that constantly stress her out and despite all that, she still manages to stay sane! And because of this lack of support - from family do we see a lot of women throw away all the hard work they have put in, from late nights cramming for exams to developing a work ethic that allowed her to carve a name for herself as dependable only to quit after getting married or carrying a child.
Few more - about people assuming that you are a home maker and during a party, the inevitable draw towards the couch to discuss latest cooking fag or shopping spree while men sit at a bar(figuratively), discussing latest business news, PM actions, probably career options, building networks and the hushing of conversation as though you are incapable of participating in the conversation - God, I hate this particular one...
And Apurva Purohit, shares some of these stories that she witnessed and throws in her words of wisdom with an experienced hand. Her suggestions and the wit with which she handled some of the situations that she faced and the facade she has to put to deal with them, made a fabulous read.
I urge fellow career aspirists to give it a go, both men and women - there certainly are some eye openers for men and pointers for women.
Happy Reading!
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