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A human family has for long been venerated by all divine religions & schools of thought as an institution which leads to procreation of human beings & subsequent molding of their personalities. While the cradle of responsibilities falls equally on man & woman; the anthropological evolution entrusts a pivotal role to woman. Although quite often when a woman opts for this role, she is deemed unfit or incompetent for any other concomitant role.

Societies across geographies & times have been marred in an unremitting deliberation of carving out the precincts of woman’s role beyond families. A few months back there was a big tumult in France when a female minister had to take maternity leave. Media raised the national debate on whether such high positions of imperativeness be given to women who might choose their family responsibilities over a “JOB”. The debate died sadly without any conclusions.

But what astounds me is the fact that women have faced questions on their abilities, whenever they have chosen to tread the path of a “role which has been carved out for them in human societies since the concept of family came into being”, without facts in the history corroborating the same. Examples in history are galore elucidating the female commitment to the responsibilities she has assumed either as part of an empress (having larger responsibilities of taking care of her kingdom) or as an ordinary woman who toils in the hot sun in order to secure a good future for her child & family. If Rani of Jhansi could rewrite the tales of bravery on a battlefield with her child on her back (infact she was then the leader of first war of Indian independence in year 1857), then there are ladies who fight the battle of survival (not only in physical terms but also in terms of their dreams of brighter future) on the rice fields or construction sites everyday. Many poets’ libretto have described the beauty of  female care & compassion through this picturesque portrayal of motherhood, where the towel not only shields the child from the threats but also at the same time teaches him/her the important lessons of life through mother’s journey each day.           

So, where & why does this question emanate? Is the answer in the long human history of treating women as citizens of second order? Or, is it just a chauvinist attitude of patriarchic design of human society which has still not come to terms with looking beyond the defined confines of a woman’s role in the institution of family?

Although I don’t have an answer to these questions (which I don’t feel are important enough to answer at this juncture), my thoughts are focused on whether a woman can be questioned on her abilities to carve out a successful career after break from work even without an answer to these questions.

Even as human societies have evolved into designs of greater erudition; a woman’s role whether in the formative years of her child or as a “homemaker” has not got diluted. Today too, she plays a crucial role of weaving the individual aspirations into “one” making “a family or a home” & moulds her child in his/her formative years into the kind of person he/she becomes in future.    

I think most of the doubt on a female’s abilities rests on a premise that two equally important roles cannot be handled concurrently. But, I feel the above premise stands nullified in wake of what the examples from human history (across times & geographies) edifies us.                         

 This brings me to an interesting facet which thus far has remained unquestioned & not deliberated. Does the organization in its present design have the support system to hold female aspirations of balancing her career as well as her family? We, as an organization, now need to take a deeper look into the support systems that have been built (or not built) to bear the load of female ambitions especially when she assumes the role of a “family bearer” instead of raising questions on her abilities to do the same.