Today, many women work outside the home, either to fulfil their own aspirations or to support the family. Alongside, they also manage the smooth running of the household. Orissa POST asked a few women how they manage to balance their different roles.
Meenakshi Tripathy from Bhubaneswar teaches in an upper primary school. She said, “I am a teacher and a homemaker. I have a seven-year-old daughter. I teach my students in the school and my daughter at home. So, essentially, I do the same thing as a professional and at home and that is very satisfying for me. Sometimes, I find it a little hard to manage my job and family, but I don’t have any complaints. My husband is also a teacher and supports me always. When I miss any household chore, he comes to my help and if he runs short of money, I fill the gap. May be, because I have a good husband I have never faced any trouble in balancing my career and family.”
Arati Mohapatra, an employee at the Government Ayurvedic College in Bolangir, is happy that her son and daughter have passed intermediate. She recalled how she has struggled to balance her family and job. She said, “I live in Bolangir with my daughter Ipsita and son Abhishek because I work there. My husband, an Ayurvedic doctor, has a clinic in Sambalpur and visits us on the weekends. It has been tough to manage my home and profession, especially because I was on my own most of the time. However, now both my daughter and son are grown up and can take care of themselves well. Of course, when my husband comes on the weekends, he takes care of many pending household chores. The struggle is still on, but I am happy now.”
Pushpa Gupta from Belpahad in Jharsuguda owns a fancy goods shop. She said, “I belong to a business family and always wanted to have a business of my own. However, I could not do anything till 2012 as my son and daughter were small. Now, Krishan, my son, is in Class VI and Rupal, my daughter, is in college. My shop is a part of my house. So, I don’t have to shuttle between the house and workplace. I enjoy my work and taking care of the household. In my case, my daughter helps me a lot. So, I am happy.”
Archita Panigrahi recently took up the job of a teacher again. Earlier, she had worked at the Navodaya Vidyalaya in Boudh. However, she quit the job after marriage. She said, “My son is one and half years old. After my marriage, I could not manage both job and family and hence quit the job. Now I have joined a school that is very near to my home. When your child is a toddler, you certainly cannot focus on your job perfectly. It is not good to leave your child in the care of a maid. If you have a relative who can help, it is good. Managing both job and family is difficult, but some people do manage to do it.”
Himanshu Guru, OP