Grandmothers also need leave

After posting last mail, I realised that I have lot more to add to the topic. Thankfully I had taken voluntary retirement a few years before becoming a grandma, so I had a smooth sailing on that front. But I know of a number of my friends who had tough time to get time off from work. One friend had to get a lot of flak from her daughter, as she had to rush back to work from the US leaving behind a barely one month old child. Her daughter did not have access to any other help and my friend told me that she had to accept the situation, as she did not want to create a problem during her promotion year.
There was another friend who had a long stint of very rewarding career and well thought of by the management. But the minute she put in a bid for a 4 month leave to take care of her daughter in the US during her child birth, there was unpleasantness. She did not anticipate this, and it appeared that all the good will and good reputation did not have any value. She was told maximum two months to the day.Even one day more, then she will have to leave the job.She left the job is great disgust.

Let us shift to London. A friend of mind went there to take care of her daughter who was expecting her first child. She had just then retired, so no problem of leave there. Midwives used to come home to see the baby and the mother after the first few days in the hospital. They would all be in such praise for Indian families, where the new mother is so well taken care of , not to mention the baby also in such good care. They said in a typical London household, the new mother has to fend for herself, and many a time they are teenagers and single mothers and find it very difficult to cope.

So, what do we have here. Grandmothers always took care of new mother and baby and system worked very well. Now mothers went for job and from a 48 day leave to a year of maternity leave, Indian work environment has progressed. Then mothers expected fathers to help out during the childbirth and time thereafter.A reluctant two weeks paternity leave is granted. Now grandmothers also are in a job and they have to play the role of caregivers for her daughter.She has maternity leave and her husband has paternity leave. But grandmother has to go for work and fight hard to get any leave.

In Indian societies, the husband is many years older than the wife, he has usually retired and is playing a new role of stepping into a grandma's role however effective or otherwise it is. Yes, I have seen this also happening of late!

When I start a new venture, I will promise any lady who joins me that when she becomes a grandmother, I will generously grant her six months leave. One has to start somewhere!