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Work is a part of life, not life itself. The pandemic has blurred the line between working- hours and personal time, the physical and mental effects of which reassert the importance of a demarcation. It is important for each person to acknowledge that their careers do not define them, that it is only an aspect of their lives. Work –life balance is all about setting aside ‘you time’, about focusing on health and mental well-being, relaxing and unwinding.
Brian Dyson, former Coca-Cola CEO, uses the metaphor of juggling five balls- work, family, health, friends and spirit. A rubber balls stands for work while the rest are glass. The logic informing the distinction is that a rubber ball will bounce back if let fall. One’s work life can be recovered if temporarily mishandled while the rest cannot.
In this respect, there has been a lot of discussion on work-life balance in recent times. In simple terms, it is the efficient management of work, self, family and relationships, so that a person lives holistically. Women have been preached the importance of this fine balance right from the day they set out to have careers of their own. Even today a lot of women are not allowed to work. If they do, it comes with a stringent condition, that it shouldn’t in any way hamper them from discharging their domestic and motherly duties.
Family is indeed important to every person who desires it. Why then does it gain extra importance when it comes to women? It has always been emphasised that family is as significant to a woman as her career, perhaps even more. A woman’s career is treated as dispensable when it conflicts with the welfare of her children and family. Acknowledging that some women willingly give up their jobs, why isn’t there an option to choose differently? How often has a man given up his career to take care of the family? Why are we, as a society, disapproving of men who do so? Why is there pressure on women to give up their jobs if their husband has to relocate for work?
For a lot of women, work-life balance isn’t an option. It is a matter of one over the other. Those women who can afford it often find themselves guilt stricken after a point of time. The ‘life’ in work-life balance has different implications for the genders. While it translates to ‘me time’ for men, for women it is the second shift. It becomes a work-(more) work balance. In fact, most women do not even devote time for self-care, for domestic work gets in the way. It is a typical scene in many households for husbands to practice yoga or exercise while the wife labours in the kitchen, a scene succinctly portrayed by The Great Indian Kitchen (2021). The contrast between the tranquillity of the former and the cacophony of the latter highlights the underlying hypocrisy behind ‘work-life balance’.