Ambitions and relationships are two distinct aspects of an individual’s life. They are both equally crucial for having a fulfilling life. Those who are able to manage both their relationships and their ambitions in life are fortunate. However, it is more difficult for women to manage their ambitions along with their relationships since in nations like India, women are solely expected to manage domestic responsibilities and relationships while they are explicitly forbidden from pursuing their aspirations. On the other hand, most successful women who are able to handle their own finances suffer from a lack of emotional well-being as a result of poor relationships.
It is quite tough for an ambitious woman to manage her relations with others while also pursuing her goals. When a woman gets married, it is either her in-laws or her husband who do not want her to work and attain her goals. A woman is meant to be accountable for her entire family after marriage, not only her husband. Whether she is the wife, daughter, mother, or sister, a woman is the one on whom the entire family relies. She is not given a choice; it’s her obligation. She is also expected to take on the responsibility of looking after every other family member. Sadly, in this hectic process, she frequently forgets about her own self and well-being. And eventually, there comes a time when she no longer has goals for herself, when she has no ambitions.
Let’s have a look at this article to see how critical it is for women to strike a balance between their goals and their relationships.
Working hard for your career or building relationships?
In countries like India, women are taught to take care of their families from a young age but they are rarely taught to take care of themselves, their dreams. Whenever a woman finds a perfect relationship, she should always be open and honest about her professional goals. She should refrain from making any judgments on herself. Women in this era should allow themselves to be susceptible to rejection because, if not for their appearance, they will almost certainly be rejected from thinking about their future and pursuing their goals. They must always be as forthright in their personal lives as they are in their work lives. A good spouse would never condemn someone for wanting to pursue their dreams, and it is critical for a partner to understand your job perspective; after all, it is your life, not someone else’s.
Here are a few points to consider why women should focus on their dreams along with their relationships:
For their own sake:
Women should pursue their goals for their own sake in order to achieve self-fulfilment. They should not be concerned about what society would say. It has been observed that the majority of women leave their jobs after marriage or childbirth. However, the situation is rapidly changing. Women are becoming increasingly worried about their own satisfaction. They’ve begun to recognise their worth. According to CareerNet, the percentage of women who return to work after maternity leave has climbed to 80%. Only ten percent of female employees leave their jobs after marriage, and only twenty percent leave due to migration. After marriage, the general retention rate of female employees has increased by 50%.
Independence:
Women are meant to be ahead when it comes to being independent. A woman must be empowered and self-sufficient in order to make confident decisions and live a life of good self-esteem. Financial independence enables a woman to rely on herself and make decisions that are in her best interests. Independent women are less vulnerable to being subjected to violence, abuse or any sort of money related harassment.
Social and economic standing:
Literacy, according to experts, is a crucial factor in improving women’s social and economic standing in Kerala. When it comes to independence, literacy is another aspect. The literacy rate of females in India is lower than the male literacy rate, notwithstanding rapid growth. Girls enrol in school at a much lower rate than boys, and many of them drop out. In terms of education, girls in urban India are practically on par with boys. In rural India, however, girls continue to be under-educated compared to boys. Only Kerala and Mizoram, according to the 1997 National Sample Survey Data, have reached universal female literacy.
Not being a victim of dowry or abuse:
In India, the dowry system was abolished in 1961. However, it remains an important element of Indian marriage, openly disobeying laws and failing to empower women. The existence of this ritual can be traced back to a patriarchal society that prioritises men above women. Boys have a price tag in many Indian societies. This is considered to be boy’s unofficial worth. Laws prohibiting the taking or offering of dowry have been in place since 1961 but still as recently as 2017, India’s National Crime Bureau recorded around 7000 dowry-related deaths. Dowry deaths increased from approximately 19 per day in 2001 to approximately 21 per day in 2016.
Pursuing goals relentlessly while balancing life
Young women are aware of their aspirations and how to pursue them in the workplace, but many are unsure of how to create a balance between their personal and professional ambitions. They have a limited understanding of how to be both ambitious and vulnerable at the same time, as well as how to be self-sufficient while also requiring assistance. It may sound counter-intuitive, yet it is the foundation of a strong connection that will help you advance your career. The person you should cling to is the one who loves both aspects of you.
Men are usually trained to be ambitious from a young age, and with it, to be good at relationships. Men have a history of managing both of these areas of their lives extremely well, but it is the women who are forced to suffer and eventually give up on their dreams. It is critical to maintaining both your personal and professional lives. It has been observed that women frequently overlook one of them due to concerns with the other. People believe that if a woman is ambitious, she will be unable to manage a family. However, we cannot assume that women who are skilled at setting lofty goals are also good at managing their relationships.
While some people believe that ambitions damage women ethically and make them unwanted, others believe that relationships make them dependent. That, however, is not the case. Relationships are just as crucial as goals. Ambitions alone cannot provide happiness; they only provide transient satisfaction; for long-term happiness, you need relationships along with fulfilled dreams. When people are depressed, they require someone with whom they can discuss their feelings.
Notable women in business
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the founder of Biocon, one of India’s first biotech firms, was named India’s wealthiest woman in 2006. In the same year, 2006, Lalita D. Gupte and Kalpana Morparia were the only Indian businesswomen to make Forbes’ list of the World’s Most Powerful Women. ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest bank, was run by Gupte until October 2006, while Morparia is the CEO of JP Morgan India.
Shaw remained the wealthiest self-made woman in 2018, ranking 72nd in Forbes’ annual wealthy list in terms of net worth. She was the fourth and final female on the list, indicating that 96 of the country’s richest organisations are still controlled by men, either directly or indirectly.
Shaw was one of just two women in the top ten who did not inherit their current wealth from family members, according to the ‘Kotak Wealth Hurun – Leading Wealthy Women 2018’ list, which assembled the 100 wealthiest Indian women based on their net worth as of 30 June 2018.
In India, however, many women with inherited money have established significant businesses or launched successful careers in their own right.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that both relations and ambitions play an equally important role in our lives. If we ignore any of these, we will be the ones who suffer. People do not understand the distinction between these two areas of their lives and are unable to maintain a healthy balance between them. However, if we offer these two distinct locations, they can each have their own significance and be balanced.
Relationships necessitate more attention and care for some, while goals necessitate more focus and care for others. Many of our cultural debates revolve around the contradiction between career objectives and relationships. In psychological terms, both of these elements have an equal impact on human emotions. So, if a person’s well-being is jeopardised in the pursuit of professional success at the expense of social relationships, that person’s well-being may be jeopardised.
Contrary to popular belief, a high majority of Indian women work in both traditional and non-traditional jobs. Women’s contributions as employees are grossly underrepresented in statistics, according to national data collection bodies. In the paid workforce, however, there are much fewer women than men. Women make up a significant portion of the labour in metropolitan India. In the software industry, for example, women make about 30% of the workforce.
Women make up as much as 89.5 percent of the workforce in rural India’s agriculture and allied industrial sectors. Women’s average contribution to farm productivity is estimated to be 55 percent to 66 percent of total labour. Women accounted for 94 percent of overall employment in India’s dairy industry, according to a World Bank report from 1991. In forest-based small-scale enterprises, women make up 51% of the overall workforce. In terms of women in senior management, India is ahead of the global average.
Women now have equal access to education, sports, politics, the media, art and culture, the service sector, science and technology, and other fields in India. Indira Gandhi is the world’s longest-serving female Prime Minister, having served as Prime Minister of India for a total of fifteen years.
