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“I was always a bright student, particularly passionate about the field of law, which I wanted to pursue for my higher studies. However, being from an orthodox Indian mindset, my father believed that educating me further would decrease my chances of getting married- as men would be intimidated by the idea of having an educated wife!

Not having the courage to speak my heart, I succumbed to my family’s wishes, and started looking for a job to support my parents financially (there weren’t many job opportunities available for women in the village). As I started working for IVillage, I became financially independent. I worked hard for, and deserved, every penny that I earned. Being able to support myself independently brought a sense of confidence and pride – the confidence and self-love women probably weren’t allowed to experience.

This confidence helped me in gathering the courage to stand up to my father, and have a say in my own future. After countless days of presenting arguments and emotional appeals, I was finally able to convince my father, and explain to him the one simple fact, which I shouldn’t have to, that getting married isn’t my ultimate purpose in life, and I shouldn’t have to sacrifice my dreams and ambition in order to get a suitable husband!

Now I am a law student, juggling both work and studies, funding my own education with my own salary, and hoping to intimidate weak, chauvinistic men with my law degree! I wish to be a successful lawyer- and I measure my success not by the number of cases I win or income I earn, I measure it by the number of people I help.

Working here changed my life, it gave me the courage to follow my dreams, and not apologize to anyone for it.

When I first started working here, I used to be a shy, under confident girl. My family discouraged me from going to work, and people would look at me and say “Nahi kar payegi.”

Now, after seven years of being associated with IVillage, I have become the supervisor, and grown into an assertive, confident woman. I even got to travel in an airplane, visit Bangalore, and go to the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. Looking at how I have grown at work, my father now encourages my sister-in-law to work as well!

I like spoiling them with gifts every now and then. I have stopped taking any money from my family, and have considerable savings of my own. During my brother’s wedding, I loaned an amount of one lakh rupees to my father- this way, he wouldn’t have to pay someone else any interest. Being the one to pay for my brother’s wedding is a long stride from being considered a burden in the family because they thought they would have to pay for mine!

“I am the child of a single mother, living with my siblings and maternal grandparents.

My father, an alcoholic was extremely abusive to my mother. My mother ran away from the marriage, regardless of the social pressure she was under, from those who believed women are meant to stick with their husbands, no matter how abusive the relationship. She came back home to live with her parents, along with us.

Now, she works at IVillage’s production unit along with me, although she mostly stays out of work due to her poor health. The responsibility of earning for the family rests on my shoulders, and I am proud to share that I handle it so well!

I am a sincere and hardworking employee, and it is amazing to have my seniors appreciate me and my work. My fellow employees, the girls at IVillage are my family- they are the ones I can always confide in, without the fear of being judged or pitied- because they understand the struggles of living in the patriarchal rural society, they have experienced it first-hand.

Although I love my work, and am super proud of myself for single-handedly earning for my entire family, I wish I could have had the chance to finish my education. I still hope that by some stroke of fate, some magic, I am able to finish my schooling, and achieve what I am capable of. Right now, I am trying to learn the English alphabet, by practicing what my colleagues have taught me.

My only wish is that the coming generations of girls in our village are allowed to get educated, and I hope they get to live the life they deserve and achieve what they want, not what they are told.

My mother-in-law was recently diagnosed with cancer. Most of my husband’s income goes towards household expenses, and paying for our children’s education.

My mother-in-law was recently diagnosed with cancer. Most of my husband’s income goes towards household expenses, and paying for our children’s education.