The Woman Who Would Be My Boss

It is awkward to see the flabbergasted faces of people whenever they hear the under acknowledged and coldest revelation “my boss is a woman.” Such fascist pouty faces with raised eyebrows not only render us an impression of prejudice but also harsh realities of misogynism. Is the ‘second sex’ tag zeroing females into good-for-nothing other than household chores? If yes, the ideal position of Indra Nooyi, Naina Lal Kidwai and Chanda Kocchar is debatable.

Historically speaking, the woman’s status in Vedic period is equivalent to man. They were given lessons of priestly rituals such as homa, yagna, vrita etc. Some of the vidhushis (educated women) include Maitreyi, Gargi and Lopamudra exemplify the same. The Sanskrit adage “Yatra naryastu poojyante remante tara devata, yatraitaastu na pujyante sarvaastatrafalaah kriyaah" (Women are honored where, divinity blossoms there; And where they are dishonored, all action remains unfruitful) marshals strong evidence that women are the centre of the universe.

The fine days didn’t last so long, though. The intrinsic gender inequality between men and women stems from the misinterpretation of Ardhangni alias Ardho Ha Va Esha Atmano Jaya (A woman is half part of a man). One cannot categorically reject the aforementioned criticism for a good reason that the contemporary women are not seen “coming out of the closet” (Judith butler in the essay Imitation and Gender Subordination). The shackles of patriarchy and retrograde attitudes of our society impose restriction to mull over liberation of women in the Kaliyug. If I am not too judgemental, there is a clear demarcation line drawn by the society between marriage material women and working material women. As luck would have it, the oops and downs of ideal women and real women can thus be culled out pretty easily. All praises and thanks to humanity for ‘withholding’ age old pragmatic thoughts. My sincere apologies in case you sense sarcasm.

I can say with certainty that a woman boss is better than a man boss. In cultures not just of Bharatmatha but across nations, argue that women are bestowed only with power while authority is always in the hands of men. It is quite melancholic and at the same time prideful to throw light on fathers and mothers roles. The Hindu article July 26th 2015 titled ‘Involved Fatherhood’ reports “Fathers have felt responsible to provide financially for their families, to protect them from danger, respond to calamities and emergencies, and discipline children. It is mothers who nurture children, feed, bathe and clothe them, take them to school, and tend to the aged and sick.” This clichéd insight is not Greek and Latin to us. However, the report attempts to draw into our attention the hell lot of stuff happening in a household. The process of household management by a home-maker (supposed to be a female figure) rather concretes the ideal responsibility of a wife and a mother. I strongly believe in the not-so-tested and proven theorem of household management equals corporation management and governance of an institution. If a woman playing the roles of a daughter, wife and primarily mother is capable and flexible enough, why should I be hesitant to have a woman boss?

To deeply understand how my stand is resonating and appreciating, one should be in terms and par with BR Ambedkar’s ideology on women and development. He says “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.” The echoing conclusion of his outlook is akin to Indian social critic VT Bhattathiripad’s memoir and play “From the Kitchen to the Stage of Action”, wherein the plight of the Namboodiri women is mirrored.

I would like to draw a parallel line between Swami Ashokananda’s Four Pillars of Wisdom and the four qualities of the woman who would be my boss. According to Aruna Goel’s ‘Good Governance and Ancient Sanskrit Literature’, “The first pillar is good conduct; the second, character; the third, intellectual understanding; and the fourth meditation and similar practices” (Goel 56). In a similar way Kautilya in Arthashastra defines that for the betterment of society ‘raja’ (I would like to call him ancient representation of modern boss) and ‘praja’ (I would like to call them ancient representation of modern day employees) should work together and be subjected to a disciplined life. Mahatma Gandhi promoted the concept of ‘Sawodaya’ which encouraged goodness, happiness and benefits for all. My boss would be a culmination of the ideologies of Ashokananda, Kautilya and Gandhiji.

First and foremostly, my boss must be a mother. Only one who knows the pros and cons of motherhood would understand the hardships of employees who share the similar status. After all, experiences maketh perfect folks. She should therefore be able to encourage opting either flexi-timing or even working from home. There is quite a number of working mothers who simply quit their jobs due to the ‘absence of choices’. By being benevolent a boss is elevated to another level of comradeship. To be fair enough, one step ahead to personal and familial altitude. This strengthens the sense of belongingness of employee in the physical space of the office. Such flexi-work options ought not to be gender-biased. What if a male employee wants to take care of elderly at home? In that scenario, gender neutral policy must be practised.

            I prefer to be a transparent and open employee. If I try to make my points clear and all the more specific, my boss should be willing to take it into account. My hats off to young bosses exercising the perfect mother figure role and attempting to get her baby used to the working schedule. There are many bosses who don’t let their employees connect with their families while they are at work. It could be probably to avoid the mismanagement and misgovernance. In my opinion, there should not be such hard and fast rules. The flexi-hour policy should also be practised for women during childbirth since maternity leave is not something possible every time in a corporate sector. In an article in THE HINDU Business Line dated January 2nd 2009, titled ‘Look Ma, no career break’, reports the merits and demerits of flexi-hours. It says, “But physically it can get demanding because you’re handling the baby plus the work. It’s not easy but you have to go through it and you know it’s a passing phase”.

My boss must also stand for equality. Equal pay for equal work has to be her agenda. In the lower strata of corporate world, women are not equally paid as men unlike the elite strata. My boss keeping strong hold of labour laws and in friendly contact with trade union should have the courage to bargain for better wages and social securities. This is how she would be able to contribute to the development planning of India. This casual workforce must also be provided with maternity benefit, provident fund, gratuity and pension. Many large industry directors are unaware (or pretend to be) of the mishaps and loss of lives in their company. I want my woman boss to act as a mediator and moderator between the directors and the employees. Thus, the whole class of workers should be acquired a certain degree of income security, nominal safety and job satisfaction. Only a woman at heart would do it.

If I’m not so demanding, my boss should be an agent or facilitator of change. It is as Gandhiji says, “Be the change you want to see”. Many a corporate is associated with corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes just for the name sake of doing it. My lady boss should take upper hand on stuff such as implementation of government initiatives such as Prime Minister Jan Dan Yojana, National Rural Employee Guarantee Act 2005, Janani Suraksha Yojana 2005 that would generate economic security and employment opportunity. She should also be there among the first few to start an NGO by ensuring the participation of even the grass-root level employees for a cause welcomed by all. For instance, why not she (if she is an audio media professional) implements a project ‘Sukma’s talk’ in ‘Sukma Ta Mata’ for the betterment of marginalized and also tribals? Such noble gestures would make her everyone’s bestie.

There has been a wide debate in the current world that the intelligence quotient of men is outstanding than that of women. I might agree if it would have been emotional quotient (no pun intended). Men are logical and rational thinkers while women are deaf and dumb, they say. Which is why the most powerful positions of the society are ascribed to men, some of them argue. In that case, the efforts of Indira Gandhi, Malala, Kalpana Chawla were all be considered dramatic. I go with Sigmund Freud’s understanding of men and women. He opines “What do women want? The only thing I’ve learned in fifty-two years is that women want men to stop asking dumb questions like that”. The clearly-defined statement thus settles the argument. Hillary Clinton is of similar view that “Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world”.

In the modern funny world of hiccups, nobody prefers a boastful boss of bossiness. One with heart and soul into their extra- curricular activities and hobbies will be the most acceptable one. Likewise, my boss must also be a woman of substance. It is professionally unethical and nonsensical to say that my boss should have exemplary sense of humour apart from indomitable intelligence and sheer perseverance. I’m not demanding that she has to be a ‘laugh-out-loud’ or ‘Rolling on the Floor Laughing’ sort. Of course, as human beings merry making is mandatory to certain extent. A socializing individual with flexibility and treats everyone on par would be my lady boss. If possible and time permits she must also organize family get together, reunions, club activities and all such socialization programmes. She must not be a shy away personality or socially awkward one to withdraw herself from playing ‘dumb charades and ‘snake and ladder’. She must be able to get along with the crowd in all ways she can. Gradually she should thus bring together all the employees under one roof irrespective of gender, caste, class and creed.

I strongly despise a modern chic and stereotypically pretty lady boss with manicured nails and pedicured feet. Of course, she must have a polished appearance and signature personality rather than signature accessories.

In a nutshell, the South-Indian movies have a trend of using the boss-tag as to address someone closer to them. He would apparently be the leader of the local community. Being a ‘madirasi’, I wish to take up the same notion of friendship, comradeship and mentorship of the boss-tag. My woman boss must have wide open ears, rapid iron tongue, deep set eyes, world renowned nose, easy handling hands and steady ready legs. If the features are appropriately placed on a five feet three inches body my ideal lady boss will be created. To be specific, a boss is not born but made ‘out of dust’.