During the course of our busy life, we create stories everyday. However, there are some instances that literally rip you apart, shake you from top to bottom and force you to re-think what you thought of life. One such instance of my life is what I would like to share here.
With an engineering degree at hand, I started my professional journey in 2006. Particularly, in May 2010 I joined a big software services company. The offer and designation were extremely lucrative- the best that could have happened to me at that stage of my career. I was really extremely excited about it.
Exactly one month after I had another milestone, but this time on the personal front- I GOT PREGNANT! Needless to say, that was the time of great excitement and ecstasy. I informed seniors at workplace about the tentative time period of my maternity leave, and had about eight months to make a place for myself in this still-new-for-me company. I am really glad to say that these months went very well, and I had received several appreciations from my seniors, colleagues and counterparts equally. Consequently, I was marked as a highly critical resource for a five-year long project. While being on the maternity break, my beautiful daughter Twisha was born. Like some of us as parents talk about that feeling of having the baby first time in your hands, I have no words to express that feeling.
Coming back to work, I joined office back in September 2011. To my utter disappointment, not only was I thrown out of the project but I had also missed the annual appraisal process. From being marked as a highly-critical resource to being at a point where you are no longer needed- really? Is this the professional world that we want to create for women who choose to plan a family? Or do they not have the right to make a career for themselves anymore? The maternity law benefit from Government of India states that no women can be deprived of benefits or pay raises owing to her maternity leave. Armed with that kind of information, I confronted Head of my company’s HR Department and threatened of a possible legal action there. The trick worked and I succeeded, some weeks thereafter, a minimal 10 percent appraisal plus a new project to work on was offered to me.
Lesson Learnt: if you know you are fighting for the right thing, raise your voice. Opportunities are not given, they are taken!!
But the learning and the story didn’t stop there. After that kind of confrontation, I became a target for Head of HR and since then he looked for opportunities to throw me out of the company. On 19 July 2012, he succeeded and the hell broke down for me- I WAS FIRED! To put it as blatantly as I can, I was depressed, broken completely, lost all my confidence and what not! But not even once, I regretted fighting for my right. With support from family and friends, I moved on in life. 6 years after that incident, I am writing this as an Associate Vice President working for a multi-million dollar software company.
Lesson Learnt: Never loose hope and the best shall happen to you.
But the story and learning yet didn’t end. About an year ago, I received information from one of my ex-colleagues that the HR Head guy was also fired. (Would you trust me if I say I didn’t wish for it!)
Lesson Learnt: Life comes back as a full circle, you will get what you gave to others.
This award-winning content was originally presented in Toastmasters International Club as a speech.
