It was lunch break and all through it, Ann had a sullen, gloomy expression on her face. She had barely any appetite due to her mood, and had swallowed down her lunch very mechanically.
Sarita, her senior colleague and a friend had noticed this, and had gently asked Ann if anything was wrong.
‘Everything seems wrong!’ Ann had said, as if that gentle question triggered a deep-seated anger, pain and frustration in her. Ann continued,
‘I feel like all these Women’s Day posts don’t mean anything at all. At the end of the day, everyone expects a woman to do everything. She’s made the caretaker of everyone and everything, including herself and her own activties. But no one really cares for her when she needs it!’
Sarita had been listening intently, and now she gently spoke to Ann,
‘I absolutely understand what you mean. A woman is expected to manage her home well, and do good professionally. If she struggles in her career, those struggles are not taken seriously because her career often isn’t taken seriously. If she struggles in taking care of the home, that same career is blamed.
‘When someone in the family falls sick, she takes care of them, but when she falls sick, she almost always never receives the care that she gives. She starts receiving the care only when everyone realises the home management has taken a hit.
‘If she does receive good care without having to ask for it, that is considered an exception, when actually that care should be the norm… ’
Ann had been nodding hard at all these points that Sarita was making.
‘Yes, this is what I mean. Don’t you find it frustrating? This huge burden of expectations, this tight-rope balance?’ Ann asked Sarita.
Sarita responded, ‘I agree with this too. However, I have something to say, which might turn your frustration into a calm motivation.’
‘What is it?’
‘You said how a woman is turned into a caretaker. How about we flip the script here, and think of a woman not as a caretaker and instead as a caregiver?’
‘How so?’
‘We can think of it that a woman chooses to balance her career and home. Not because she is made to. We all know women who successfully do so. We also know women who choose to successfully prioritize home, and let their career become a second priority. We also know women who do vice versa. Maybe, even if the society did not make her balance it all, she’d still want to do that, because she is capable of making a choice for herself.’
Ann at this point had become more pensive, and less angry. She nodded, calmly, and not as vigorously as she had done earlier. Sarita continued,
‘I do agree that even in 2026, many, many women are not fortunate enough to have this ability to flip the script, that is, of making choices and not have choices made for them. The change perhaps can begin with us. Think of it celebrating Women’s Day every day…’
‘How so? How do we celebrate Women’s Day every day?’
‘Women’s day every day means assuming that whatever a woman does, it is based on careful thought on her own part. That it is her choice. It means assuming that her gentleness, her care, her kindness, her priorities are displays of her strength and not her weakness. It means assuming that even in circumstances that may or may not be the best for her, she is in charge of her own decisions. It is assuming that strength can be loud, assertive and powerful, but also quiet, gentle and kind. Sometimes, these qualities are seen separately and sometimes, they intermingle beautifully.’
Sarita continued,
‘We should definitely continue to empower the women who do not have the privileges and freedom we take for granted. But we should not assume that a woman does not have the strength to make a decision for herself, no matter how dire the situation is.
‘Think of it this way- within the limitations which may have been imposed on her, she will still most likely decide to do what is best for her, in that situation. Of course, I am not saying the situation will always be good and that it shouldn’t be improved. My point is that women are incredibly strong. And one can be strong in many ways. We have a quiet strength that doesn’t fade, whatever the situation might be.
We are not mere caretakers, passively taking care. We are caregivers, because we willingly give that care. And this is how we celebrate Women’s Day every day- by reminding ourselves about this quiet strength, that knows when to become loud.’
And that, dear friends, is the power of flipping the script! Team UHR extends warm Women’s Day wishes, to all the strong women. We salute the strength that can be quiet, gentle, kind and loud, powerful, assertive in equal measure.