About Pragya and her friends

While travelling in my company transport, every evening from work to home I watch as four girls disembark at a stop. They are all non-Malayalees....from North India. All of them are well mannered, soft spoken girls, who have not yet lost the college excitement but are slowly being pulled into the corporate world. They dress well, neat clothes and well braided hair. They do look for each other before the bus moves and as they get down. It was just a couple of times I heard them talk to each other about the night's menu. As I see them get down from the bus, quite a few thoughts go through my mind....How long are they prepared to be away from home in Trivandrum? Though they are together as a family today, one-by-one they would get married and move away...few of them would keep in touch with each other while others move on...how do they live here? Where do they live?...and so many questions till I see something else and my train of thought move to that track...

One day I had one of them sit near me. We gave each other an acknowledging smile...and after settling down, she asked me about me carrying my laptop home every day...as we chatted, I asked her the questions I had in mind...and her response to them, helped me build the picture.

They are a group of 7 girls living together in a three-bedroom first floor of a house near to Technopark. They do not have a refrigerator to store milk, vegetables etc. The cook dinner every night...daal or any pulses and roti. If there are more people to eat, then a dry side dish is also prepared. (Interesting!). So what about breakfast...she smiled and said its optional..and whoever wants to have can have on their own..like her, who has cornflakes and a fruit everyday like her two other friends. Three others make parattas every morning and have it with milk. Speak of milk, I ask her how do they store it. What she does is to buy a milk packet in the evening, boil it and have half of it in the evening and the rest is kept in a vessel which is kept in a water filled basin till next morning. And consumed in the morning. So what about vegetables? And what she said was a bit complex for me to understand but here is what it was meant to be...and she took the example of a cabbage. If a cabbage is bought and cooked, they have a board with all names put on it and whoever has the cabbage writes down under her name that she consumed the cabbage. At the end of every week, they calculate who all consumed which all vegetables and share the cost with the girl who spend it. Confused? So was I...but think about it for a few more seconds and you will crack it too! :-)

And I asked her...so how long will you all be away from home in TVM? ... She thought for a few seconds and said..well...hmm...dont know...but all of us want experience at work and so wont leave the job so soon and go. So what about marriage? She smiled and said..well, in fact I am getting married and leaving for home tomorrow! I smiled at her confession and asked whether she would continue or leave. Got a refreshing answer from her.. my fiance - Ujjwal, his parents and mine want me to continue working and gain experience. He is in IBM, Pune and has around 3-4 years of experience but has advised me to get a few more months of experience before joining him at Pune. This was a different perspective, from a single-child of parents who is staying away from home for the first time in her life!! And I could see the women of today changing their prospective of working. They want to balance their work and personal life. They want to have a secured future! And supporting them are the in-laws, parents and their partners!! :-) Kudos!!!

And by now, our bus had reached Pragya's stop and she was preparing to get down...I wished her lots of luck and also told her that her decision is absolutely wanted these days!

Wish you a Happy Married Life, Pragya and Ujjwal.