Bhubaneswar, May 17: Motherhood for most is a life-changing episode and many refuse to combine career with it. However, there are a few who not only challenge themselves, but also emerge successful.
Mother of a toddler, 27-year-old Supreety Mishra runs a dairy farming co-operative in Balasore villages. She finds it difficult to juggle home and work, but her family makes it easy for her. She depends on her mother and in-laws too. "I have to devote a few hours to the job. When I get back home to my baby, I feel more fulfilled," said Supreety, who finds happiness in empowering village women. Many of them are employed at her dairy project.
Anita Sabat has a 14-year-old school-going daughter Adisri. Sabat, a popular blogger, is often invited to conferences and she also looks after the affairs of Utkalamrita, an initiative that she and her sister Amrita run together to export Odisha crafts, spices and other rural products to foreign countries. The initiative is only one year old, but the sister duo often need to travel abroad to take part in fairs and expos.
"Recently we were in Sydney for two weeks. I had to leave my daughter at home since she is in Class IX. When we were kids, we did not want our parents to leave us for their work and the same is true for my daughter. But she keeps in touch through Whatsapp and asks for updates on our sales and even encourages us to try new methods to impress buyers," said Sabat. She feels that even if you have a toddler, crèches could be of great help to continue an enterprise. Even depending on grandparents for a few hours can be helpful. "In fact, if you have started something on your own, you can also work from home," she said suggesting women to start their own ventures.
Photographer Pragyan Panigrahi finds support from her husband in her endeavours for wedding projects that she takes up. "If you have your heart into something you will always find a way out. Motherhood should not be a hurdle to one's career. Rather women come out stronger when they become mothers," she said.
