(part of an infinite stories’ series)
I owe my transition from ‘female-dominating’ to ‘male-dominating’ world to my mom (my career choices happen to be in the fields which still are dominated by higher proportion of men – mechanical engineering, automotive, strategy consulting)
I went to all girls school for education upto 12th standard – I always felt being part of the tribe and belonged
Late teens, I got admission into Delhi College of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering where I happen to be 1 in 50 boys. The environment of class was very raw & rough in language, behaviors and expressions. I felt I was not a fit & ready for this, to the point that I felt tortured, lost and I wanted to end my life
My mom was one person I was closest to at that time and I told her about my feelings; I thought she will sympathize and agree with me to leave engineering and support to do something else. BUT she had different point of view; she explained how fortunate I was as I was living my dream of studying in a top engineering institute, she strongly advised me to embrace the change and also created a much needed support system at home.
Seeing her courage & belief, I started to shift. I made friends for life in the remaining years of my time at DCE, I could sail through major setback(s) due to huge support & encouragement from them
4 years at DCE became the ‘defining phase’ of my life; if my mom would have not enabled me I would have missed tremendous opportunity which opened up massive possibilities in my life
…for this and much more I would be forever indebted to her
Happy Mother’s Day to all moms. They are superhumans around us
#mothersday #gratitude #womenempoweringwomen
