5 October 2012

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN AMBITIOUS WOMAN : GEETHA DEVI

Geeta Devi, joined McDonalds a month back as a trainee crew. She is from Nepal. Came to India when she got married to an Indian and now her life is settled here.
         We met her when we went to have lunch during the peak hours. It was Geetha who greeted us. There was something dynamic and unusual about her which made us smile too. The spark in her eyes had lot more to tell. After the lunch rush when she came out for her break, we thought we should make use of the opportunity. We introduced ourselves to each other. Geeta was happy to let us know about her life. She didn't had the perfect English , but certainly her customers would remember her warm smile more than the burgers they had there.

         We started with loads of questions because she already made us really curious about her. We asked her why there is a need for her to work, as she told her husband who is a security earns well & takes care of all her needs. On that she told us about d ordeals of her life which really inspired us.
          She is actually from an orthodox Nepali family. Being the eldest daughter with no son in the family, the whole responsibility of her parents and her two younger sisters are on her. All that she does with full dedication even now when she is stay miles away from them in India with her in-laws. Geetha's family is not from a sound financial background, all that they manage is from the 6000 rupees she sends home every month. Geetha's biggest task now is to get her two younger sisters married soon.
          We wanted to know how she manages her life as she has to work and earn and at the same time satisfy her in-laws at home. On this she proudly told us that she is lucky to have a very supporting husband & mother-in-law. It was actually her husband who supported her at first when she told him about the ambition to work and earn for the family. She stays there in her house with her mother-in-law & her husband.
         Then she told us about her typical day. Her day starts every morning sharp 4 am, when she would get up and do some pooja after which she would prepare the breakfast for the family with her mother-in-law. By 7 am she starts for the work & reports on duty at sharp 8 am. She continues to work there till 5 pm in the evening. she says even though she never gets to sit also sometimes at work, she never feels tired of working because she is really enjoying her work there. By 7 pm she reaches back home. We wondered how she manages it, because she resumes back to her household chores as soon as she reaches home. Many times at work she will be asked to do extra hour duty during rush days due to shortage of staffs and she would wholeheartedly do it.
         She gets an off day once in a weekdays. We wanted to know what she would do when she is at home. She told that she really wanted to go out and spend time with her husband but unfortunately she cant because her husband has to go to work whenever she is at home. She told she has many hobby works, for which she manages to get time. She told that she does stitching and embroidery works at home when ever she gets time. She don't know much of her neighbors who live with her because she hardly gets time to know them.
        She told us that she is expecting a child in few months. We asked what will happen for her work if she has child, she told that she will work as much as possible and will not stop it. Its because she needs finance to support her family. She told if not her her at least her child should get all the facilities of life, for that she is ready to do anything. She told that just because of financial reasons she couldn't fulfill her ambitions and dreams (she told she wanted to study a lot and wanted to be an officer in some good company).
       Its really surprising that with all these struggles in life she manages to have a smile always on her face. Women like Geetha have strong determination to come out of every odds of life and enjoy life to maximum. Hats off to her spirits.

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