Yesterday I watched the movie’ Kathal’ on Netflix. Kathal is a word in the Hindi language meaning ‘The Jackfruit’. The story moves around two missing jackfruits. In the purview of missing jackfruits, the movie gives many messages, especially in context of India. Among many side incidences, one instance in the movie shows how the lady police constable, Kunti, tries to balance her work and family. She was reluctant to take up a promotion as it may lead to her transfer to some other place, and at the same time was diligently performing her duties at work.

I remember, my mother long back, who was a teacher at Government School, refused her promotion as it came along with a transfer order, meaning relocating to another state. Once for a project, I travelled to rural locations in Odisha. There I met a Woman field worker, who was staying in a village, away from her home and child, for work. She use to visit her home (which was 3-4 hours away) almost every weekend, and her husband and child use to frequently visit her. Many working women move with their husbands if the husbands have a transferable job or are relocating for work. For them, it’s about resigning from one job and finding work in a new location with every transfer or relocation. When the work is secured but transferable, for example in civil services and armed forces, the woman moves to her places of posting and makes it possible to balance work and family whenever and wherever possible.

I recalled the editorial page of The Indian Express, dated May 25, 2023, titled ‘She, the Civil Servant’. The author speaks about how equality at home and workplace remains a challenge, in spite of the fact that more and more women are making their way into Indian Civil Services, one of the highly prestigious professions.

The ideal situation for many women who want to balance work and family is to live in the same city or town with their family and work simultaneously. Online work options are available but are not feasible always, and may not be possible always if professional aspirations are associated. The choice of relocating or not relocating for work for a woman is an individual choice, and many times may be driven by the overall social, financial, work, family, and personal circumstances. With more and more women choosing to work or join the organized workforce, the choice of relocation may become easier in the future.