Sexual Exploitation, Another Story!

Just a few days after I posted a blog on
Sexual Exploitation at work , I came to know of another story.
Strictly, technically speaking, it is not really sexual exploitation, but more of taking advantage of a situation. But, the point is, any experience with unwanted sexual undertones leave an impact on the woman's mind!
Coming to the story.

Due to the nature of my job, I keep meeting people from various companies. That day was no different and I reached the place of meeting at the designated hour. The lady I had to meet had recently joined and we got talking and hit off well. A meeting which was suppose to be a serious, formal business meeting turned into a fun, a bit of giggly affair between two girls!
The girl in question was really accomplished and I thought was under employed at her current position. So, I voiced my opinion and she suddenly became silent. I was about to apologise as I thought I may have crossed my line when she started talking. She conveyed that she resigned from her last company under not so happy circumstances.
She had become an eye sore for some colleagues (male colleagues) as she was doing well and was good at her work. Two male colleagues in her team took her performance a bit personally and started harassing her. Unnecessary snide remarks were made which made life difficult for her.
She complained to the manager but in vain. The manager was very pally to one of the two colleagues so shielded them and told this girl that she is imagining things. The male colleagues continued to be non-cooperative and made sexually loaded comments. This started affecting her performance and her morale. Her manager gave her a bad appraisal based on her performance of last 2-3 months. Her performance for the better part of the year was ignored as if it never existed. To make things worse, out of the two colleagues who were harassing her was promoted and she was asked to report to him. He actually had the guts to come to her and say, 'Let's forget the past and work together to be the best team in the company'. She realised that if she worked well, she can continue to be a star performer but that would also mean that the male colleague would gain & get credit as he heads the team. If she doesn't do well, she may face more such situations. Hence, she quit!
It may not have seemed like a good decision then but it all turned out well for her in the end and today she is doing very well for herself.
My point here is, she is getting what she deserved now where as it should have come to her earlier. Due to a sick mind she had to lose out on something which was truly hers!

Sexual exploitation @ work

Women across the world are familiar with this.

Many have had first hand experience & the lucky few have just heard stories. Sometimes, life throws you in tricky situations yet gets you out scratch free.
Recently, I came across the story of a girl who had a brush with sexual exploitation.

The story goes....
Anamika had recently joined the corporate world after her MBA. Like every other enthusiastic fresher, she plunged into the new world with full vigour & excitement.
Her job was client servicing & business development.
She, within few months had impressed her seniors with her diligence & work. Therefore, to encourage her & to use her potential to the maximum, the company gave her a very prestigious client to handle. All was going smooth & things were looking up for her.
One fine day she managed to get a big project from the high profile client. The head of operations at the client end seemed to be a nice & helpful person. He was very encouraging & that gave Anamika more confidence to push her companies case infront of the head operations. Anamika's hard work & diligence paid & she got the project. Her happiness knew no bounds.
But, the happiness was short lived. The coordination involved in the new project was very complicated & tiresome. Suddenly the client seemed non-cooperative. The client pre-poned the deadline of delivery & that put lot of stress on Anamika & her company.
With the help of the seniors in her company she devised a plan to workout the whole thing & deliver the project by the preponed deadline. The head of operations at the client end was kept in loop. Anamika had to go for an important meeting in relation to the project and that is when the head operations offered his help & said that he would accompany her to the meeting. This was a big help for Anamika as a man with so many years of experience would always add weight to her case.
The place of meeting was almost at the outskirts of the city, so, the head of operations conveyed that he would pick her up & they could go together in his car for the meeting.
At the designated time the head of operations picked her up and they set out to a long drive to the place of meeting.
Anamika was by now used to the constant frown & disapproving look from the head of operation but was in for a surprise today. She felt a sense of relief to see the smiling & chatty mood of the Head of operation.
The head of operation started asking Anamika about her life in the city & her background. Slowly his questions turned more personal and he started questioning her about her 'close' friends, boyfriends, her take on physical intimacy etc. She started getting very uncomfortable about the discussion but was unable to find a way to change the topic or express her discomfort/displeasure. Her non-decisiveness encouraged him further & he started talking about him & her and telling her that they should become 'closer' friends. He went on to add that he likes talking to her & would continue to 'help' her if she would agree to be his 'friend'.
She was getting confused, for she believed that friendship cannot happen through a deal, if one is destined to be friends they become friends.
While Anamika was confused and tried to make sense of the whole thing, the head of operation tried to reach her and hold her hand. She managed to dodge him. She was now feeling scared as now she was able to understand what this man meant. She opened her mouth to clarify the 'misunderstanding' and he immediately interrupted her and asked her to speak only in English and not to make sudden movement like she had done to dodge him. After all the driver could see and he would understand if she spoke in Hindi. Aah! The driver. Anamika suddenly felt a bit relieved. This man would not attempt anything till the driver was around, after all the head of operations was married with kids.. He had a 'reputation' to 'protect'.
With this knowledge she became a bit bold and managed to keep the head of operations at bay. Once they reached the place of meeting, she felt more confident & secure and had a plan in place. When the head of operations was not looking, she called one of her friends asking her to call her back exactly in 30 mins.

When the friend called back she posed as if something has gone horribly wrong at another place where a part of the work of the same client was being carried out. So, she requested the head of operations to 'tackle' the rest of the meeting here & that she needs to rush to the other place immediately. The head of operations had no option but to fall in line with her plan.
She ran from the place like she had just seen a ghost and thanked God for sending the driver as an angel whose presence helped her come out of the situation unscratched and wiser.
Through the rest of the execution of the order she managed to maintain a safe distance from the head of operation or meet him only when there were more people around.

Once the project got over, she unofficially spoke to her boss about the whole thing. The boss immediately understood her problem and moved her away from the account. Yes, she lost a very prestigious account but her santity and respect was more important.

What saddened me in this whole story was that Anamika had to be penalised without any fault of her. The whole incident was so situational that no one could actually make a complain about the head of operation. He went Scot free, free to harass some other innocent girl!
A girl when she works hard to rise in her career there are such people she has to encounter who are ready to pull her down or if she does not want to give up, she needs to go through them. So very unfair. Will this ever change, I wonder!

Profession Flaunting......

A very weird phenomenon which I have observed in recent past is flaunting ones profession....

Many have started putting stickers on there vehicle announcing to the world their profession. I am sure many would have noticed & also done this them selves.

This phenomenon (if my memory serves me correctly) was restricted to Government vehicles including Defence (but not personal vehicles of employees) & Doctors few years back.

Government Vehicles used it basically to get priority on road & easy access everywhere without stopping & proving identity. The Doctor sign was more for ready help in a pre - mobile era.

In recent years the trend spread it wings to many more sectors & professions & I find it funny.

Defence: Army, Navy or Air Force pasted on the windscreen or mud guard of two wheeler was done basically due to registration plate. Defence along with certain section of Central govt employees have a highly transferable jobs & they can't change registration numbers of their vehicle every two years so the stickers served the purpose of being not stopped & questioned by traffic cops.

Press: This started as a means to get easy access to the "News". But with the increase in the number of media houses, it has reached such levels that about every 5th Car flaunts a 'PRESS' tag. Anybody who has anything remotely to do with print/electronic/radio media starts using this so called label. I have even seen vendors of these companies (I call them companies n not media houses coz they are just business entities, all of them without exception) who supply just the regular office stationery also use it for their 'perceived' benefit.

Other Professions: Today even a lawyer has a sticker on his vehicle. I do not understand the purpose it would serve. May be I am naive.

Once a colleague told me (about the sticker on her car) that it helps. Helps? I asked. Well, it helps when I drive outside the city especially to my relatives place who are not living in a metro.

Now I get it. You want to flaunt it, it has become a trend & a status symbol of sorts. Actually, flaunt what you are not. Because PRESS has a specific need and use & every person working in Media does not come under the blanket of Press....

Job Search Oh My God!!!

Hey!!!
I never knew job search could be so neck breaking...
I have been working for quite sometime to think that I have see a lot of the corporate world... Even have shifted jobs few times with no hassles.. They were always there before I asked for it.. In short a pretty easy going life for me.. Then one day somethjing happened and boom my life changed I resigned with no other job in hand....
And my search for an "Ideal Job" started.... It has been more than a month n I'm still searching.. The other day an article on the front page of the newspaper made me laugh for a long time n people around me actually thought that I have gone insane under the pressure of trying to look for a job!
Actually the article was about the dialemma faced by companies looking for "deserving" candidates to take in... It said there are lots of jobs ready to be grabed enough number of resumes flowing in but not enough number of deserving candidates.... Well hear I was one of the so called "deserving candidate"( a name given to me by my previous employers) without a job!..
Or was it that I had become once upon a time deserving candidate.. and that waqs not good enough anymore..
I donno... well but my search for a good job is still on.. well sometime i think the terms we use are so subjective.. like desrving, good etc etc.... well another day tomorrow lets see what does it have in store for me....