The Best of Both Worlds - Pritika Shah on Work-Life Balance

Pritika Shah, Vice President of Marketing at HDFC Life, believes that a woman's career goes a long way in building self-esteem and financial independence. In addition to this, she truly believes that a working mother can raise positive and independent children, despite what most people think.

For nearly six years now, Pritika has been a part of HDFC Life. Over the years, she has constantly strived for excellence in every sphere of her career. She started her journey as a Marketing Executive in Pizza Hut and climbed her way through financial brands like Aditya Birla Capital, GE Money and Bharti AXA. In a career spanning nearly 18 years, she has helped build and nurture a number of brands. Over the last decade, she's also looked after her son, Arkush. She has balanced both her roles almost flawlessly.

When asked about how she manages to juggle her responsibilities so well, Pritika credits her family and her support system for all their help. She says, My husband is my greatest support and we divide our responsibilities equally, as far as possible, to be able to do justice both at work and home. Additionally, she believes that being able to plan out her life in advance is also incredibly important.

In society today, despite the difference that women's rights movements have made, most families still expect women to stay at home and raise a family once they're married. Many believe that motherhood is the ultimate goal of any woman's life, and while this may be true for some, clipping a woman's wings simply because she wants to be a mother and a career woman seems unfair. Thankfully, women like Pritika are paving the way for others around them by proving to them that they can do both.

Of course, life isn't always easy. Once while at an offsite, Pritika's son was quite unwell. At that moment, she knew she had to prioritise her job so she completed the conference before rushing back to look after Arkush. During illnesses, examinations and social obligations, the pressure starts to build, but Pritika knows better than to stress about things that aren't in her control. While she's at work, she focuses on the tasks at hand. The same rings true for her time at home. That's dedicated family time and she tries to ensure that work never gets in the way.

Pritika knows that many parents today have to spend long hours away from their little ones. At times it's because they want to work, sometimes it's because they have to make ends meet. Whatever the circumstances, she believes that governments and organisations need to step up to help working parents. She believes that there's little difference between working mothers and fathers today and she thinks that the government and a large number of organisations have made some commendable moves by introducing comprehensive maternity policies, introducing ches in corporate sectors, and allowing flexi working policies. However, something that she'd like companies to focus on is the sensitisation of managers to allow these policies to be implemented without any bias.

Pritika was able to establish a good support system at home and she urges other working parents to do the same. She understands how difficult the balancing act of motherhood and a successful career can be, but she's taking on all the responsibilities that come at her with a positive attitude. Most importantly, Pritika knows that as long as she plans and prepares for her family and her career equally, she'll be able to deal with any difficult situations that life throws her way .

HDFC Life's Pritika Shah is an inspiration to parents across India. We'd like to take a moment to thank Pritika for inspiring us. For teaching us that we can deal with our demanding jobs and the pressures of society while also raising our growing families every day. Thank you for all that you do at home and at work.

ARN: ED/05/19/13761