Come 8th March and the internet gets flooded with articles glorifying and eulogizing the world of women – of what a great soul they are, of what a great fighter they are or how tough it is to be a woman, so on and so forth. But these articles soon vanish once we step on 9th March. Are we born just to be remembered for a day and then forgotten for the rest of the 365 days of the year. Definitely no!
Agree that we women go through endless struggles in our day to day lives but this should not stop us from living our lives on our own terms. While TravelRasoi had in the past talked about the achievements and accomplishments of women achievers, we thought it apt this time on International Women’s Day to catch up with five women from different fields and hear from them of how adversities can be coped with in a woman’s life, while still staying obligated to leading a more purposeful life –
“I would like to quote Arlene Rankin – ‘The way in which we think of ourselves has everything to do with how our world sees us and how we see ourselves successfully acknowledged by the world.’
I personally think that one’s mind set and lack of self-esteem can do more harm to one’s self than any other thing in the world. Start honouring yourself and treating yourself with respect, because it is you who set the stage up for others to treat you with respect.
Another aspect of women in India in general is that they do not invest in the “Me” Factor. While keeping with the demands of the various roles the women performs, stress inherently gets built-up impacting their sense of well-being. It is essential to indulge in things that give you little pleasure; it can be simple things but makes a lot of difference.
I am a mother of two beautiful children aged 11 and 4 and am working in the Hospitality line for last 11 years. My mantra of creating a balance between my job and my family is by creating a happy support system around yourself whether it’s the family, well-wishers, friends or even full time helpers. Admit when you need help —mothers are masters at hiding their struggles but they are not super humans. Create clear margins in the workplace — and always ‘walk your talk’.”
“As a woman, I would like to tell my fellow womenfolk to never try to fit in. Celebrate individuality and let no one dictate your ambitions, plans and thoughts. Our best asset is our growth mindset. We, at times, tend to forget the power we have and rely on the views and opinion of other people. Rather we got to invest in our mind every single day. We really owe it to ourselves to start stepping up. Let’s be willing to get uncomfortable and start our fabulous new adventure.
The secret mantra to driving a balance between a woman’s personal and professional lives is to build a passion for what one does. Whether it is the choice of profession or things in our personal lives, if we recognize our passion and act on it, there is never a dull day anymore. Women today are pursuing smart career and entrepreneurial choices out of their skills and hobbies which also allows space to give attention to our personal lives.”
“As a woman I would like to say that we are creators, of not only another human form but anything and everything. The Shakti within is a potential powerhouse of energy and this needs to be recognised and valued by us. We need not succumb to situations and circumstances which should be taken as challenges. A woman has to hug and appreciate herself; one has to value the energy and calibre.
When we talk of the personal and a professional life, there need not be a balancing act. That I feel is the root cause of stress. We need to do our best and leave the rest. Why to be a super human being, we have to recognize our strengths and work towards accomplishing our goals in cognizance with that.
The one thing which I seriously want every Indian woman to work upon is the fact of glorifying their struggles and being a perpetual complaint box. Women love to find excuses for not leaving their comfort zone and taking action. That needs to be improved upon.
And lastly, the He/She syndrome should be taken care of and a woman should take things in her stride. One should learn to enjoy life and not be a slave to the mundane and routine. ‘For everything under the sun there’s a reason or there’s none, if there’s one better find it, if there’s none, never mind it’.”
“I feel every woman today has the right to freedom of expression and living. However, I have always been in favour of striking a balance. I feel that it is this word ‘Balance’ that is keeping the earth and other stars in their respective places and together. Disturb this balance and you’ll notice a series of natural disasters happening right in front of your eyes. My only message to every woman out there is to learn how to balance your life, careers, kids and everything else.
As a woman, I strongly feel that we are the ones who can manage everything and still survive happily. We’re strong, great jugglers and confident souls who know how to keep their family together. Our mind and body is unique, gifted and of course very different from that of the men. Lastly, I feel we need to take good care of ourselves too. Remember, staying happy and healthy is something that is totally in our hands.”
“There would not be a single day when we would not hear of women complaining of how ‘stressful’ their lives had been of late. Who is to be held responsible for this? It is not our husbands or our kids or for that matter any third person in this world, but it is merely us, according to me. Why do we forget in the midst of performing different roles that we too have a life of our own and we can live it on our own terms? It has been culturally imbibed upon us to think for others first and then think for ourselves, which is not bad but definitely not good all the time. We happen to lose our individuality in our chase to achieve perfection in the eyes of others. These aspects definitely need to be changed in us.
Let’s pledge and also practice for the 21st century to see a new awakening for us women. It is upon us today of the kind of seeds we sow today that will bear fruitful result in the years to come.”
-TravelRasoi
