Life is the greatest teacher

Life is the greatest teacher

Fighting adversity and making it on her own is the hallmark of a woman. Every woman has the capacity, talent and drive to achieve this.

By Aditi Thirani

A commerce graduate, a tour-organiser and a lot more, Pratibha is a brave lady. Yes, she enjoys life and loves to cook, but she wouldn't like to stick to just that. "I like doing a variety of things and I don't like biased people! I feel they miss a lot in life and can never get the most out of life," says Pratibha.

She has been taking care of her family single-handedly since her husband's demise. She started working in a photo studio as an account manager and later started her own business. She has a fifteen-year-old daughter and a 20-year-old son and is enjoying good success in her business. "After my husband's death, the education of my children was my first priority. I always was into taking care of my business and children," says Pratibha.

Prior to the changes in her circumstances, she worked in a private firm and her husband took care of the business, but two years ago, she was thrown into the deep end of things. "I had two things to worry about: the financial situation had to be taken care of and I couldn't close down the business because the workers would lose their jobs and their livelihood. I had to continue the business," adds Pratibha.

She did face problems in this business due to the fact that she is a woman. "In my area of work, which is dominated by men, I have experienced difficulties in having people take me seriously. My workers didn't take me seriously earlier. They didn't follow my instructions and thought that I wasn't qualified enough to be working there. So many times the drivers, office boys and other staff tried to cheat me for money at minor things like diesel, break-down and so on," explains Pratibha.

Women are an important and inseparable part of the society feels Pratibha. "I strongly feel women need to have knowledge of multiple fields so that they can explore their potential. Women do have enormous talent and can fit in various traditional roles like being a mother and a home-maker. But these are not the only things that they can do. They are good at business, handling work responsibilities and making it in the corporate world. Nothing should be forced on a woman because that will only deny her the opportunity of exploring her real talent. I am personally very happy and content being a woman," says Pratibha.

She feels that the situation of women in our country has taken a lot of time to change and will take even more time to become what is desirable. "Indian society has been male dominated and there's no denying that. There will be problems that women will always face. More than thinking that women are weak, people assume they are not smart enough. And of course there is an ego thing where male workers don't like following orders and instructions by a woman boss! Even if a woman possesses the necessary skills and knowledge, society doesn't easily accept her as a decision maker or a leader. This is something which does need a drastic change," says an agitated Pratibha.

Women are not weak; they just don't realise what they are meant for and what their worth is feels Pratibha. "If women have the courage to face adverse situations, they would be capable of being up for any challenge thrown at them. As a woman, I feel all women should know their skills and use them to the fullest to improve the social and economic standing," concludes Pratibha.