The middle path

PUNE, February 9: Every member of the qualified-but-cannot-work brigade unanimously agrees that there is need for good part-time jobs. “Part-time work should become a way of life here, just like it is in the West. In fact, employers are losing out a lot by not utilising this existing workforce of women who are qualified and willing but cannot be tied down for long hours,” says Jhumkee Iyengar.

“It’s only the Indian woman who has to sacrifice so much in life,” asserts Daksha Raval. “Ideally, a woman should have both, and why not? Right now, with both my daughters having grown up, I am toying with the idea of working again. In fact, my husband wants me to join his company but that will not work. One needs individual space…and flexible working hours or part-time work for women.”

Even Srila Bahumik admits, “If the family is willing and if a woman has the kind of profession where she can go back to her job after her children are grown and independent, it is always better to do so.”With the worldchanging rapidly and India absorbing the Western work culture, perhaps part-time work is not too distant a dream. It would give something that the educated and home-bound woman of today rightly deserves – the best of both worlds.