Corporate life in India compared to corporate life Abroad
I have been part of both the corporate world’s India and abroad specifically the western country in Europe. How is it any different?
Like every Indian woman, I shifted abroad to support my husband’s career not that I had been doing any less in my career and I did not have any aspirations. I pursued my dreams with hard work and struggle and nothing was given arranged to me in the platter.
Starting the career in India
After being qualified from a mediocre university to be specific Bangalore university. I started Job hunting, Coming from a Muslim middle-class community it was a challenge and a stigma attached. I had big dreams to make it to the top. I was not very bad at studies in fact I was on the topping list but due to some personal events, I couldn’t do well in the so-called turning point of my life the 12th board. Having said that coming freshly out of an MBA degree I started Job hunting although I was married by 23 already. I still had dreams and I thought having kids will put a full stop to my ambitions. I started looking for a decent day shift Job which was very hard to find as all I got are night shifts and being a married Muslim girl and working in night shifts was a big No-NO.
After many years of struggle, I finally found a secured Day shift Job where everyone was happy in my family and my career just started in Finance. My salary was not high but I was happy and satisfied. My life was good. I met people, learned the job, slowly my CV started to fill in with good exposure in analysis and Financial statements preparation which every finance graduate dreams of. However, short-lived. I had to shift my husband after almost 4 years of my corporate career in India where I had made a bunch of friends and colleagues like family.
Career Abroad
My life had changed and new people, new locations, New culture had taken over. A land where everyone dreams to be in for a good life. However, the childhood dream I had to make it to Europe had now been fulfilled. It is as beautiful as we see in the movies. I thought in my mind. This is it and now I am going to grow. After many interviews, I managed to find a Job again started to make my career and noticed that my qualification which I did from India is really not useful in Europe and all I am getting was clerical Jobs which usually a 10th or a 12th pass would do in India. So, I decided to upgrade if all it takes is upgrading. I was happy to upgrade. I took up a course in Chartered management accountant which is really tough and I lost a good number of years to complete the course almost 3 years of my life went to study this course along with the Job. However, I managed to clear it. Now my salary has doubled and my Job satisfaction has only gone down. Although I enjoy working but the culture in Europe is nowhere near India. your colleagues won’t talk to you. Nor there are personal talks, nor there are outings like in India we have and nor do they even go out for lunch or dinners. Life is different. It’s lonely. I feel lonely and I regret the decision to make my career I delayed kids and now I am stuck with loneliness with no friends, a good career but with the least satisfaction.
We hope that we go out and we make it big but when we actually do we realize the little we had in our lives actually gave us so much happiness. Although we couldn’t fulfill all our dreams with that money we certainly were happier and the journey was beautiful. Now that I am able to fulfill my dreams with money. I feel so lonely and I miss my colleague, my friends and especially my family. I intend to go back to my home country to my people soon.
