5 things you often hear if you are a woman entrepreneur in India
There are always two faces of a coin. As a woman entrepreneur, you get appreciation from all corners of the world, but there surely will be a group of people who can be quiet a pain in your, umm everywhere!
The voices are so loud and seem profound that you often shut yourself up in your room thinking am I really doing the right thing?
Well, let's sum up the 5 things you have to face if you are a woman entrepreneur in India:
1. Constant reminders (read: taunts) about the way you look!
Be wary of the chachis, mamis and buas. They, along with thousands of other relatives, will comment on your looks as soon as they see you. "Beti, why don't you get a proper haircut?" "Why don't you pay more attention to your skin?" "Oh god, you have put on so much weight, why don't you take care of yourself?"
And you keep thinking of ways to explain that you are not doing a regular job; you are busy 14 hours a day. You face mental and even physical challenges daily and you are too busy solving them!
2. Why don't you want to get married?
Marriage? Really? We don't even have time for a hair spa, forget about spending a year on trying to look good, preparing for parties and spending everything that we've earned on clothes that we won't wear again!
We can't even imagine that!
3. So-and-so's daughter is also working (doing a job at an MNC), she is not so busy, she comes home on time and stays free on weekends, why don't you?
Do you think it is easy to explain to your family that you can't and you don't want to have "weekends free"? We have chosen this life and we don't regret the fact that we don't have "weekends free." In fact, we love our work and it's leisure for us. We don't want the "kuch nahi karna padega and salary aa jayegi" life!
4. Why don't you try for higher studies?
This is the hardest of all! You are drowned with stories of so-and-so's daughter doing an MBA and getting a so-and-so "salary package". We are always at a loss for words to explain that we believe in learning management in the real world! We are learning how to manage a thousand things in this startup! We don't chase money, we want a fulfilling life!
5. Why don't you leave all this, get married and then you can help your husband in his business?
Dude, my business is different from my husband's established business! How can you expect us to go and "see accounts" of someone's already established business? We want to build a business from scratch, scale it and want to see it giving fruits, all by ourselves and not going and sitting on the chair of some sari ki dukaan in the name of "helping your husband in his business"!
This list was from the point of view of an unmarried young girl attempting to make her startup big! I am sure it will be an entirely different story for married women entrepreneurs.
Nevertheless, we just have to stay unaffected from such criticism, persist and chase our dreams!
Happy starting up!
About the author:
Garima Juneja, Co-Founder, Viral Curry
