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The Gendered Lens

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There I was busy awaiting my turn at the vegetable vendor and I met a friend and soon were talking about the upcoming school holidays and about our plans to keep our children engaged during the holidays as we were working mothers. All of a sudden a woman in her mid 50s (I prefer to call her Aunty) intervened with a statement saying "That is why, all mothers should take the job of a teacher". Looking at our puzzled expression, she continued "That way you will get leave the same time as your children". I stared nonplussed at her. My friend shrugged her shoulders and gave me a look that said "I don't know what she means by that, but let it go!" I being me, could not let it go, I simply reverted saying "Then what do we tell our daughters who want to study medicine or engineering or business administration that hey you can study all you want but if you want a family it is best that you don't pursue your professional interests but rather be a
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Merci beaucoup- for being you!

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If you are waiting for a "Jay Shetty" kinda write up given the motivational-wisdom title of my first post for my blog Whataboutery, then I will respectfully ask you to look at other content, because this post of mine was simply to share something beautiful I experienced a fortnight ago on the last day of my work. We as argumentative Indians love to critique and that is why perhaps  criticism comes to us quite naturally and easily than appreciation (ahem my 8 yr old daughter would fiercely nod at this even as she would allege that her Amma suffers from this as well!). And yet when one receives appreciation, we (most Indians) are flummoxed and fumble our way out with a sheepish smile that says "I didn't know you thought that way or "Aww...really!" So when I stumbled upon my official farewell with such open declarations of appreciation, suffice to say I am glad it happened and it got me thinking.  30 minutes of my farewell was all I needed to understan
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