Myra, now in her early forties, was born in an urban middle class family in India. Eldest child of her parents and their only child for almost 7 years, she was showered with lot of love and affection as a child by parents and relatives. Her first encounter with life was when she was about 20 years of age when her dad was out of job suddenly and diagnosed with a mental disorder which rendered him incapable of continuing his career. She was still studying to graduate at that time. It was devastating. Her mother had begun to work part time before her dad’s illness so she turned full time and thus supported the family in this unfortunate time. Myra graduated about a year and half later and took up the first job that came her way, even though it didn’t pay her well, to support her mother. She also had a brief relationship with her childhood friend which was turning sour around the same time. It was agonising to be struggling to make ends meet on one hand and deal with a heart-break on the other.
Myra got onto a proper mainstream career after a struggle of three long years. She could finally save some money after the monthly household expenses. She did well in her career and progressed to managerial level in the next three years. She was also out of her relationship by now. She met her husband at work and married soon after. It was good to have some emotional and financial support at last. She was weary of the struggles that she went through in the last few years and decided to take a break from work soon after marriage. It was a mixed feeling to be at home after so many years. She realised that she had got attached to her position and pay at work, so it took her a long time to detach from that. In the meantime, her husband got an overseas job and she moved with him. Soon, she secured a job there too.
But this time it was not a smooth stint for her at work. She did not enjoy her work and was grumpy most of the time at home. She decided to stick around at work till they started a family. Having a baby was also a struggle for her as she had hormonal imbalance. She finally conceived through assisted reproductive technique (ART) and was blessed with a baby girl. She left her job soon after and focused on raising her daughter.
She is still on a career break and looking forward to getting back to work though staying at home has been blissful. She has been doing things that she likes to do and is happy to be around her daughter. She now feels, she is leading an ordinary life with not much financial independence but at the same time very comfortable and devoid of struggles. She feels blessed that after all these years, she finally found her peace.
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