The Balancing Act

Let’s take the challenges of an average Sri Lankan working woman's day.

Her day starts early, having to cook breakfast and lunch for the children and her husband. Then she gets ready for work and takes the public transport where she has been groped on many an occasion.  When she finally gets to office, there is a message waiting from her boss. Her request for leave to attend her daughter’s concert has been denied, the boss says. Companies thrive showing profit and Return on Investment to stakeholders and leave cannot be granted for such trivialities. Torn between needing to keep her job and being a good mother, she sets about her daily office activities.

During lunch, she meets a former colleague of hers, who was promoted while she was away on maternity leave. After lunch, she attends a departmental meeting where she speaks up with regards to employee rights. Once the meeting is over, other women question her motive for speaking up and tell her it’s better to remain silent – “we are women, what can we do”, they say.

She leaves right after lunch, to pick up the kids and drop them off in day care. Back at office, one of her male co-workers mentions that she looks sexy today. Uncomfortable with that remark she asks him not to make personal comments. He responds saying she is too emotional and behaving like a girl. This is an office environment he says, it’s only natural for co-workers to banter. For which she responds that, had he told her she looked good instead of sexy, she wouldn't have found it offensive.

As her day in office ends, she picks up the children and walks in to get her groceries. Now she faces challenge of balancing her household budget.

Credits : - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnmA6XadtmFINfZ2kpp-W1bG01rusMHdADRVX1YUBi2xydI1nYnR1XbcyL37KzFkMf2net119Rx6dSsJom_JTSqp9T-2YzSqYvVhawn9HL-poUIie_U6owX3h_x3LRhXUEw4gbKJg8xGc/s1600/Balancing-Act.gif

In the next blog post, I would like to address the 100 day and the New Minority.