When Women Work

And here’s another take on working with women from Rohini Sharma, another friend working as a teacher in Delhi.

Teachers tend to be mostly women in India, not just in schools but even in other training institutes covering languages, soft skills, voice accent training etc.

Gourmet Talk: Having taught in a language institute myself, I can reflect upon my own experiences of working in an almost all-female work environment. Women get together and you have a potpourri ready. Literally so! Forever wanting to show off their culinary skills women get the most delicious of dishes to work. I got to eat things I had never eaten before.

Staff Room Talk: Forever discussing what happened at home, kids on mobiles all the time, how to put a meal together minus a maid and so on - all this can be heard when we take breaks between classes. Add to it tips on how to bring up children better, how to make the uniform whiter, how to handle mother-in-laws better - all making you the wiser mother and daughter-in-law. Secrets as to where to buy what cheaper are disclosed - such talk can be quite a bargain.

The Mutual Feel-Good Society: And compliments abound on a good day! The camaraderie is great – the support one gets from female colleagues is extremely empathic.

Yes, I firmly believe that working with women can be a great experience.

Men are ornamental here; the few around are only reminders of their existence. For them to be in a (ladies) staff room is an eye-opener. They get a peep into how women talk, as also why women talk. In our staff room they were mute listeners, smiling once in a while. Yes, one did miss them on a low day though. A compliment from the opposite sex could do one some good! But when one has women around you who understand you the way you want to be understood, do you really need men? You anyway have them at home!