As a little girl, I grew up listening to the stories of Rani laxmi bhai and Indira Gandhi. They inspired me, but I was doubtful if they could be emulated, they were not ordinary women. As I grew older, I read about Indra Nooyi and Kalpana Chawla and realised it was possible for ordinary women to excel and accelerate their careers through sheer determination and hard work. I studied in girls‘ institutions all my life; and time and again was reminded that sky was the limit for anyone in this world, irrespective of gender.

I completed my professional degrees and started work at the age of 22. I worked hard in an MNC with a strong will to quickly grow up the ladder. With good support from parents, I had hardly anything to think about on home front. I was content and happy. Then I moved on to the next phase of life. Being a wife meant additional responsibilities at home; coming home late and working six days a week seemed to drain my energy, but I coped with moral support from my spouse. When the penultimate promotion to mother was bestowed upon me I took a break in my career. I was clear that I couldn’t follow two distinct pursuits with equal commitment, and this was a time I wanted to cherish and enjoy every moment. I pursued higher education to compensate for the career break.

As my kid grew, the professional in me pushed me to restart my career. I restarted where I left, that’s when I realised the real pains a working mother faced. I had all the support required to take care of my kid and home, but the guilt of not spending quality time with my kid was killing me. I personally believe that one should never pursue anything that does not give happiness and contentment in life. I looked for alternatives like working lesser hours and working from home. The fact that flexible working was not something widely prevalent in our country dawned upon me. This required a change in mind-set among the working community, and any change meant resistance.

I wanted to do something about this, to change mind-sets and break stereotypes. I strongly believe that it is possible for women to work productively for lesser hours and achieve professional satisfaction in their lives, while taking care of family without any guilt. Thus Prerna was born as a result of the wedding between my personal and professional aspirations, with a vision of bringing in sustainability in women’s careers. I wish to support women who want to start, restart, accelerate their careers with either full time jobs or flexible ones, whichever serves them best.

 

What Prerna hopes to do in the next couple of months:

  • Build a rich database of women professionals.
  • Approach corporates to tap into this rich source of talent Present a case to corporates to adopt flexible working policies specifically for women.
  • Provide women with training, support, mentoring, networking to build skills in their desired fields to make them employment-ready.
  • Any other support required by women in their career

This is my story; if you think you can relate to my story either through your own experiences or through that of your spouse/friend/family member, join me in this revolution to make our workplace more women friendly and in turn family friendly by spreading the word. Let’s give a hope to our womenfolk to pursue their dreams to fly high and live a more fulfilling life.

If you’re interested to know more, write to me at workwitpassion@gmail.com or call at 9444092469.