The other day I went to a meeting in one of our new buildings in Bangalore. It was a large, sparsely populated building and they were just completing the finishing touches – like putting up signs that tell you how to get out of the building.
I was sarting to think I’d have to call someone to show me how to get out of the building and find my way to where the Hertz driver had dropped me off - when a young woman came clattering down the stairs.
She looked very much like my Salyani. Except she was wearing a short sleeved shirt and pants. And she was carrying a lightly filled backpack. She said she would show me how to get out of the building and find the AXIS bank where my driver would be waiting. She had a slightly harried look on her face.
She asked me where I was going – and I told her the name of my hotel. She did not know where it was. And we kept talking and walking. And she asked me again where I was going and I told her again – and I asked where she was going She told me her house was very far and she would be catching a bus to get there. I asked her again if she would like a ride. She accepted.
We chatted between my emails and phone calls – 6 kms feels like 46 in rush hour Bangalore.
It started with her asking me how the market for SAP-HR was. Given that that was the first time I had heard about SAP-HR, I was operating on very thin ground. She proceeded to tell me that her husband was very passionate about SAP-HR – he had taken out a loan for 4 lakhs ($10,000) and gone to school to become certified in SAP-HR. However, he was struggling with getting a job in that field because he did not have any relevant experience. He had been doing other jobs and helping out at the institute for the last 6 months. “I am really worried that we will never be able to pay off this loan”.
The story got sadder – She worked at my company in our prestigious research division. She was an engineering graduate and worked as a programmer.
She had been married to her college sweetheart. He was living in Chennai with his parents so he could go to the institute. His parents were old and could not look after little kids. Her mother had a debilitating illness and her father looks after her mother.
So this brave young woman, happily married and having all 4 grandparents is living like a single mom of the West in the middle of family smothered India. She lives in an apartment at the other end of time. She has a young woman come in to watch over her 2 year old baby. She leaves early in the morning – driving her scooter to Domulur. She parks her scooter in a public space near the bus station, and takes the bus to Whitefield. It takes about 2 and half hours to get each way to work. I had helped shrink her commute by about 30 mins today.
Twice a week she works from another office closer to Domulur – so her commute is shorter. She really cannot work from home – broadband too expensive , and the baby cannot understand why she won’t play with her.
Why don’t you move to Chennai – oh he really likes Bangalore – he wants to live here. Of course we may need to do something different if he does not get a job soon. All of 25 years old, the weight of the world sat on her shoulders.
My heart went out to this young woman, whose name I will never know – but whose courage and dedication impressed me deeply. .
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