A ladies night out

Recently I was invited for a "ladies night out" organized by  'J''s friend's mum  and in oppose to other times, I accepted the opportunity, one because 'J's best friend's dad offered that he will be happy to babysit 'J' too, along with his daughter. As 'J' friend's mum (and she has become my best friend in my last two years of living here) was also invited in the party and two, because this might be the final occasion for me to meet all the fantastic women who happened to be also the mums of kids going to the same class or to the same school as 'J'. Here are the few points I observed that evening and would like to share with my readers.

They are a bunch of wonderful and happy women, working full time, working part time, work at home mums (WAHMs), stay at home mums (SAHMs) having one two or three kids.

It was a fantastic evening,  I met with many of them for the first time and it took no time to gel, the common grounds for discussion were of course kids, health, work,  travel, politics, UK, India and so on. Topics very diverse and very much fun.

It was a group of around 20 mums, all of whom came to the party looking very pretty and chic. All are very hardworking women, and as an Indian I respect them a lot as they take care of there houses, kids, work, extended families, gardens, extensive hobby and also find time to get involved in some volunteering activities.

This completely Do It Yourself  (DIY) concept is still unknown in India. Having some sort of domestic help is a common norm in India. May be Indian women will say that life is easy in out here with all the modern facilities. But I having seen both sides of the world,  still think it is very very hard to do everything on our own albeit having all those modern equipments. And this DIY brings a special kind of satisfaction and happiness, also keeps those vital bones fit. A 75 year old lady, coming to do her weekly shopping in a supermarket, or a gang of them having a chat with afternoon coffee in a corner cafeteria is a common scene in Europe. No it is not all about money, it is about the art of living, enjoying and appreciating the life that we have got.

As I will be leaving for India soon, they asked me about my plans, whether I am going to start on something, and I told them that nothing is clear yet, but I am fine with that, as I will be happy to get  few days/months of freedom form a 9-5 compulsive job. Last two years I had very busy schedule and there are many things I feel like that I need to catch up.

They absolutely agreed on it and I found almost all of them have gone or are going through this phase, and they absolutely don't aim for 24/7/whole adult years of work life. They are all qualified professionally but they have carved or are carving out a special path for their life where they can take care of their career/child/family in their own terms. Also, they are the second generation of working women in Europe, they have started taking it easy now. Europe also has many options for women with small kids of going part time or taking sabbaticals.

Any professional man can think that they are crazy, some of the ladies echoed that they do get guilt pangs occasionally but they all agreed that they think their lives are very enriched. Their motto in life is not to reach the top, but to live a full circle.

I was watching them, talking with them and appreciating them in my heart.

So ladies cheers, next time when you all will meet, I might not be there sitting with you, but your laughter and cheerfulness will remain as a treasure in my heart forever.