The Corporate Homemaker

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Today, I complete eight years of corporate life. Yes, eight long years with the same company. During the third year of my engineering, I was placed in the big blue and a day after my final fourth year exams, I joined the company. My joining location was Chennai and I hated the place from the time I set my foot into it. I was away from my family for the first time ever and for a true blood Bangalorean to survive in a place like Chennai is really difficult. I cribbed and complained and cribbed some more. Plus, since I was away, my long distance relationship went kaput and I was not in the right frame of mind to stay in an alien city. After four grueling months, I got a transfer and I was back in Bangalore. Since that day, there has been no looking back.

People say that work is worship, I don't know that exactly. But work for me is a lifeline that I cannot do without. My job might not be the greatest in the world, but I love it. The feeling of being financially independent is wonderful and I am really glad that I do not have to depend on anyone else for money. It just feels like yesterday that I drew my first salary and here I am having drawn close to a hundred salaries by now. Of course the amount has varied over time, and to be really honest I do not care much about how much I make. I know I give my job a 100% and I get paid in return. That is all that matters to me. I have friends who have jumped a lot of companies and make twice the money that I do today. These are the same people who crib non-stop about how horrible their jobs are how much they hate it. I get paid to do a job I love. So, who's the winner here?

Over eight years I have changed six projects. The first five was in a location close to my mother's place. I worked there until I got married. After marriage I moved to the other side of town and changed my work location with a new project within the same company. It has been three years since I moved here and I couldn't be more happier. Marriage did not change my perspective towards work and my husband knew that my job would always be my top priority. He loves me for being so serious about my job. I am not a procrastinator. I need things to be done when they have to be done. I plan my work first and then everything else around it. Be it vacations or medical follow ups. I would never compromise on my job in any way. It is important that I stay true to my job. Else there is no way that I could stay true to myself.

While I'm so focused on work, I do not compromise on my home either. I am a working lady yes, but I also am a homemaker. And I'm very proud of this fact. Most people I know call me a "working lady" and put a big full stop at the end. It is automatically assumed that she sucks at managing a home. Utter bullshit. I've been managing a home for more than a year now and we couldn't be more happier. I am the homemaker who has a place to go to every morning. I am the homemaker who finishes chores at home and then goes to office to do her job. I am the homemaker who doesn't have to wait for her husband for the basics. I am the homemaker who has contributed to the making of this home financially. I am the homemaker who takes care of the bills on time and can pay it from her own pocket. I am the homemaker who sees to that that her kitchen is full and the home is well maintained all the time. And yes, I also am the homemaker who manages a demanding job along with this.

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Of course you cannot do this without the right support. If there are people around you cribbing about the fact that you can't do a few things because of your job, it will only bog you down. Over the past one year my husband has been a great support to me and together we manage a home beautifully without any help. We even financially support both our set of parents along with taking care of our own expenses. My husband knows the love and respect I have for my job and helps me make it easy. A couple of years ago, this was just not possible due to the burden of expectations. Since the time we moved to a place of our own, we have been able to manage everything effortlessly. I know he's got my back, so that helps me give a 100% to my job and a 100% to my home as well.

I am not trying to blow my own trumpet here. I am tired of listening to the words "working lady" time and again. The societal definition of such a woman is one who is ambitious and is only bothered about her work. In that case let me get the definition of a homemaker right too. A homemaker is someone who takes care of the home and the people in it. She takes care of all the chores and handles the bills and everything else on time. She has a clean house and also keeps the family members close and brings the family together. I know of so many women who have failed as homemakers today. These women have maids to do all the chores for them and yet they miss out on so many things. Let's face it, we're all human. So, let us make it clear that a homemaker is not someone who can take care of a house better than a so called working lady. It all depends on the type of person one is. Being complacent and lazy does not help either kind.

In my opinion, every woman needs to be financially independent. Be it at a steady job or working from home on your own. While a lot of woman are happy staying at home and watch soap operas, there are a lot of woman doing something for themselves in any way that they can. They are earning enough to support their own needs. With the advent of the Internet, so many women have gone online with their home business and many of them are conducting cooking/art classes on you tube. It feels so nice to see something like this. Last week I saw a show on TV that showed a 82 year old woman entrepreneur famously known as the knitting nani. Her daughters have helped her set up a company and she's running it successfully now. A woman is strong. Be it a working woman or a homemaker. But it is important that they realize their strength and do something about it. Pick up a talent or a course to earn some basic amount, that's all they need to do. For themselves, not anyone else. Trust me, the feeling is something else altogether.

I've clocked eight years of being a working lady and more than a year of being a homemaker today.

Forever to go.