A housewife’s ‘working’ dilemma!

Can convenience be priority when one decides to work? Not something you would appreciate when you hire someone. It could be so in some cases, when you look at the other side. 

Everybody sees what works to one’s advantage and there is nothing wrong in it, is there? None other than you should decide what works for you. Being a working woman works out for me perfectly and so it does for most girls today. Work-life balance is something a woman has to master, I would always think. Of course, I never saw future replete with stay-at-home women and knew that working would be their financial and psychological need. Still I must admit I had seldom thought about a section of the stay-at-home, who would love to cross thresholds of their homes on work.

Running around for assignments, I was unmindful of this side of the story. However, my recent back-to-back encounters with such housewives, looking at investing their time fruitfully, made me aware of many of their preferences and more importantly, sublime issues in their minds. One of my neighbours asked me, all of a sudden, if I knew about any openings. When I asked what she was looking for, ‘anywhere which is convenient’ was her reply. Wouldn’t it be tough to recommend a person who’s looking for a convenient job?

It could never be professionally agreed but convenience is a priority for many housewives, who have never worked previously. My father insisted I became a lecturer for the reason it’s a convenient for females! I didn’t tread that path because I believed convenience could not be the basis of choosing a profession. Of course, I am not so-called career-minded. For me, work happened and was never planned. While my long working hours often raised eyebrows among kin, little did I know that many of the housewives looked at me as a ‘lucky’ girl who could work from the very beginning.

The other day when I was outstation on an assignment, I preferred to stay at my married cousin’s place. A doting mother of two, she was a perfect housewife. During interactions, I could make out her willingness to work. She was doing her library science course and was struggling handling exams and deadlines. The course was a lot tougher than what she had thought it to be, she said. When I asked her why did she opt for it, she said she had seen women working cozily in a library and thought it would be convenient. Soon she found it a tightrope walk.

I can understand that convenience could be the priority for many like her. When children are a little grown up and things are settled on home front, many women, who were minding homes, would like working. Of course it can never be easy to step out all of a sudden and carve a niche in a new area balancing home. At the same time, after staying home for years, it’s natural for a woman to be anxious about it and kids.

I can understand housewives’ dilemma and also of those working. It’s wrong to think working women ignore homes or housewives don’t dare work. In fact, they have not only set their priorities right but also trained children and other family members accordingly.

Again, no working woman should belittle housewives for house-keeping could be a lot tougher and stressful than a profession. If it takes a thing to be a successful professional, to be a good housewife takes another. For efficient women, changing role from a housewife to a professional or vice-versa may not take long at all….

-KanChan