On Woman’s day, the thought that has really stuck to my head
since morning is how easier it is as a man in this world & especially being
in India. If you really think about it, as a man the only expectation from you
is to go out & earn a living. No one judges you as a husband, father, son,
son-in-law. All you really need to do is finish your education & be capable
enough to earn a decent living, get into the flow of things & carry on till
you retire. The routine generally is to get up in the morning, get ready for
office, work for 9-10 hrs, come home, relax, have dinner & sleep. And life
keeps getting better with time.
Compare this to a women’s life. Probably till about getting
graduated from college the life of a girl & boy run in parallel, but post
marriage it takes a different turn. You now inherit probably a 30 year old
child to take care of, teach basics of cleanliness in most cases and are
supposed to take care of the entire house with 3 meals to be cooked & earn
a living as well. Imagine this, by the time
a man wakes up in the morning, the lady of the house would have already done
25% of her work and by the time both end the work in office, it is just about
75% of the day that the lady has completed. She heads home to cook & feed
her family, sit with her children to take up their studies & if you have a
husband like me clean the house again. And after all this get judged by
everyone around as a wife, mother, daughter-in-law.
I used to find cooking not much of job until I had to cook
& feed me for 6 months while at onsite. Of the 6 months, where all I had to
do is cook for myself for 3 times a day, more than 60% of the time I was eating
frozen parathas or at subway and imagine here is a person who does this
activity day in and out for all 7 days without a break on weekends, tirelessly
& with a smile on her face (well most of the time).
When her kid gets hurt while playing or scores poorly in
school, she is the one who has to live with the guilt day in and out, if it
happened because she is not giving enough time at home. Do you think she is
happy giving up the onsite opportunity, which is deserved, but she does it with
a smile and passes on to her male counterpart, it was all because she could be
there for her family. On the contrary, a man never has to make these choices,
he never has this guilt. He never has to refuse an opportunity because there is
a better half with him who makes these sacrifices.
Talking about this or saying a few words of encouragement is
not enough. There are numerous other subtle ways to incorporate this into our
everyday life. We, as men, given the easier life have a responsibility and
should look for opportunities to make it a tad easier for her. Few smaller
gestures like telling your team lead after the 7.30pm call to go home & you
will send out the minutes email, or dropping or picking a colleague from her
home even if it is a little off your route, when you are at onshore ensuring
your female colleagues do not have to stay late, if weekend work is necessary
make sure you ask her to take a day off during the week, even smallest acts
like letting a lady cross the road by slowing down the vehicle you drive means
a lot. Encourage her to achieve things she deserves and scale higher heights.
So my urge is to imbibe this thought in your mind, that you
as a man have an easier life and it is your duty to support your female
colleagues, not because they needs your support but because god has let go easy
at least for this lifetime.
Happy woman’s day!!
