GB Real-Life Dashabhuja – INDRANI CHATTERJEE
Corporate leader, Global Group Chief People Officer AllCargo Logistics and former HR Director at PwC SDS, a caring Mother and Wife, Indrani is a born fighter
The modern-day woman faces a plethora of challenges in their daily lives. Keeping the perfect work life balance is next to possible but she tries to manage it all. The corporate world is one which has its own challenges. To climb the corporate pyramid, it takes years of hard work and dedication and trust me, it’s a difficult journey for all, but being a woman who works in the corporate sector, takes it up a notch. The career graph almost always collides with the biological clock and makes thing tricky for all the women who want to continue their passion in the professional world.
There is a constant struggle and compromise that needs to be made to balance both the worlds. I also had to do lot of adjustments in my life to ensure I take care of my personal life and remain successful in my professional life as very unapologetically I can say that I needed both the worlds to keep me whole. I have faced various hurdles in my life, right from the beginning, when I had to leave my hometown for the purpose of getting quality education to now, when in order to manage my life, I have to sacrifice bits and pieces of myself every day.
A question which bothers me is, “Should mothers not work or working women should not become mothers?” Even though there is hardly any perfect solution to this puzzle, the magic lies in prioritising. There are days when I go to bed with lots of guilt pang for not being able to be with my family, or missing a very special friends’ get together or a much awaited family event. There are also days when I have to miss an office event, because there was something more important that I had to cater at home.
Late work hours and never-ending deadlines occupy most of my week but I sacrifice on my social life on the weekends to spend quality time with my family. As a working woman, I keep on balancing my mental and physical space between my personal and professional responsibilities. Even though I try to have a strong grip in the world outside, in the world inside those four walls, all my time goes behind my14-year-old daughter and my family.
As I look back, I see myself juggling my everyday activities, not giving up on my either world. Was it difficult? I would say, it was not easy. But I have grown, I have matured and I have understood life as it is and not what we see in movies or read in story books. I have seen my daughter’s sadness as a toddler, when I used to leave for office, leaving her all alone with her nanny and now I see the beaming pride in her eyes about my achievements. I have tasted success and have known how failure feels. I have gotten love and support from people that made me realise how blessed I am and at the same time I have faced cruel betrayal from people who were once the closest to me when I needed them the most. But all of it made me what I am today. Every woman has the right to live her both dreams. Independence comes from financial freedom and no one should be deprived of that. But for the woman who has taken the responsibility of carrying the generation forward, the society as a whole should be more supportive and receptive of working women by providing them little more support than what they are getting today. Statutory laws have changed a lot in this area- a little more mind-set change will be really helpful. I strongly believe I have been able to live through my both the worlds because of the strong support I received from my husband, my family, some of my bosses and many of my friends and colleagues. A strong support system is required if you are treading this tight rope and at the end of the day, it’s your resilience and self-belief which helps you to achieve what you deserve, unapologetically!
