Startup by education institute with offering much worthy support to its students.

India’s premier educational institute is planning to blacklist a number of startups for one year for withdrawing their job placement offers. This stringent action is planned to bring basic understanding of discipline to those startups.

Positives: With this action, educational institute is encouraging values not to be compromised, even if it is about the first job of their students, eradicating any form of fear about securing financial stability and paying off education loan etc. and despite the fact that supply is more than demand that makes it appear choice at receiving end is lesser, a wrong is a wrong. Providing the support by keeping belief in their student’s knowledge and confidence could be a perfect example that would help the students overcome any similar challenging situation in their professional life in the years to come.

Suggestion for Startups: when its business model is based on exploring an unknown and to learn from its failures/discovering from its mistakes what does not work, and generally found via a bottom-up or top-down approach. So, approach lower tier colleges equally for job placements. There, they might find some innovative ideas for their business from those who did not fail to get admission in India’s premier education institute, but had found 10,000 ways that did not work for them while preparing and writing for the admission selection process of the premier institute.  

Bill allowing 6-month maternity leave passed in Rajya Sabha

Two days back, I read the news of this much awaited bill submitted in RS. I held on my reaction then as it was overwhelming, but not realistic until things started moving. And as it did today, I wanted to express my view on this much important news.

Nine years ago, I was employed in one of the top software companies in India and had conceived my first child within 3 months of my marriage. I was still in my newly married magical days when I realized it was time already to get ready for one of the most important responsibilities. I was nervous but excited at same time. When first trimester somehow passed with much nausea, I and my husband moved cities in my second trimester. As I started feeling better by my second trimester, I enjoyed travelling to another city, that I was already familiar with in my recent past. Excitement of finding a maternity clinic while having sweets in a shop opposite to that… those specific taste cravings. That was after I and my husband had visited big hospitals akin to corporate (commercial) setup, where to meet the doctor also, one needs to fulfill all the monetary rules of registering and becoming a member at the onset, without even seeing the doctor once.  Charging consulting fees was perfectly fine, but registering and becoming a member without having decided if I feel this place and staff comfortable enough to deliver my child there or not.

But, the gynecologist in her clinic opposite to the sweet shop that I shared before, had divine touch. The moment she put her soft hand on my 4 months pregnant belly, I was certain that she is the one I feel comfortable with to bring my child to this world. I was advised to keep working in my software job without taking any break and I did till the last days of my pregnancy.

Beginning next year, my child was born with full support and patience of the said gynecologist and her staff. And then started my thoughts of getting back to work after 3 months maternity break provided by my employer. When my 3^rd month of post maternity break was going on, I and my husband visited a daycare center that was in a building adjacent to my employer’s. And a moment there brought I and my husband back home with a heavy heart but with a firm decision in our minds. A really small child who was crawling at the daycare tried to stand up holding my husband’s trousers and with a look in his/her eyes to take him/her in arms, as if ready to go home. And we decided to keep our child at home only till we are ready to put him in outside environment of a crèche.

Though it felt that we both working was the need of the hour, but after discussing with my manager then about my confused state of mind and he made it very simple saying, go and look after your responsibility now, which is your child. Be around his early development stages to see him grow everyday, yourself… enjoy this period. Work can be done later also and will be available when its time.

With 3 months company approved maternity break, plus my saved paid leaves for current and carried forward leaves from previous year, plus 2 months’ notice period sanctioned by my manager, gave me almost 7 months paid post maternity break. I for sure was in the right company, among the right people then. Always feel grateful to God for that.

And after almost 1.5 years sabbatical from my career, another big IT company offered me employment and with that I started my second career.

The period I was able to spend with my new born, that gave me almost everyday priceless moments of being around him in his much needed early development year that allowed me also to learn and to grow into a mother’s role, nothing I could find till then as fulfilling and happy as being a full time mother.

The news today of the bill allowing 6-month maternity leave passed in Rajya Sabha made me very happy. I could feel my initial uncertain days of post- delivery to work or to be home as a full time mother and the never-to-forget Crèche visit with my husband 8 years ago.

6 months is basic necessity for a newly delivered mother to heal her body post delivery, and for the baby also to develop his/her neck muscles and head control strong and steady.

I’m so happy today for the expecting and newly delivered mothers to be relieved from any other thoughts of how to manage their baby post 3 months maternity break. Because nothing is as important as a mother to a child in their critical early years. Feeling grateful to God.

External news source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bill-allowing-6-month-maternity-leave-passed-in-RS/articleshow/53652957.cms

A 7-days trip to Kolkata, another chapter in our Incredible India journey

The rich land of Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore’s Bolpur-Santiniketan

 I was on 7-days’ vacation last week with my family to Kolkata, my first ever visit to the City of Joy.

On our 5th day of the trip, we travelled to the home town of Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore’s Bolpur- Santiniketan, a rich land of culture and education in West Bengal. There, I got the opportunity to meet some women of Bolpur, who are associated with selling of a range of sarees from cotton, silk, Batik and Kantha sarees through a small shop within the premises of Pancham Bhojanalaya cum Guest house. I bought a cotton saree and some Kantha work clothes for myself from there. The only Kantha work I had before was a very pretty salwar kameez in crepe bought from Nalli in Connaught Place, New Delhi as a part of my wedding preparation, but I’d lost that while shifting places between Bangalore and Gurgaon couple of years back. So, getting original Kantha work of Bengal, from one of its districts is no less than a prized possession for me now.

The same day, I met more women from Birbhum district, who makes the sarees in various forms… from cotton, cotton-silk, silk, Batik and the beautiful Kantha Sarees. I was dis-heartened to hear that even though it takes 5 full days for them to complete one Kantha saree, they are paid only Rs. 90 for that one Saree, when we buy it for not less than thousands of rupees. The only relief is that they have an easier way to make their prepared sarees reach to the market through a shop right opposite of their workplace called, Amar Kutir, once a place of refuge for independence movement activists that has been turned into a cooperative society for the promotion of arts and crafts. It is located on the banks of the Kopai River, about 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) from Santiniketan. Finished products of Amar Kutir are also sold through government cottage emporiums across major Indian cities. There, women working behind those sarees travel daily for almost an hour on their bi-cycles to reach and go back from their workplace to their respective homes. I was so proud to see women even in their old age working hard with their hands to prepare something that makes other women look better :), true sign of women empowerment and rich culture of India.

As we had a lot to cover in our 7 days’ vacation to Kolkata, I was waiting to wear the saree that I’d bought from Bolpur. True to the words, as you seek, so you get, while waiting for our train to arrive on the railway platform, to return to Delhi from Kolkata, I met another beautiful mind, Dr. Reshmi Sen Sharma, a senior professional in clinical psychology. After exchanging few basic information about ourselves, we could see that we had some common interest areas, like children education and development, belief in ‘nature and nurture’ and spirituality. It is very rare to find people on a public platform with whom you can connect so easily and instantly. Then our train journey even became more enjoyable by talking about our common interest areas, and I was amazed to hear her work stories, that make her travel extensively, all for a noble cause to help children and adults with life skill training. She also helped me in draping the same saree in less than 2 minutes.

Not only I was able to meet some real amazing Indian women in this maiden trip to Kolkata, but also found a friend in Reshmi. True to its name, City of Joy, it gave us one of the best memories to cherish in our journey of Incredible India.