Interview by S . Haseeb Hussain Shah Jaswinder Gill , married Indian women who decided to run a shop independently
shares ver views with 50 / 50
What made you think that you can own and run a shop independently ? I am not from a wealthy and educated background . My husband has always been very kind enough in accepting my decisions and supporting them . He wasn ’ t educated either but he always provided his full support to me . We had to do something for ourselves . My husband used to do construction work but still we had to earn more money for our family especially in this recession time period . That is when I decided to take this step . I am happy that I made equal effort with my husband towards my family .
Did you find any problems while working ?
Well , There has been many occasions when people came in shop stealing stuff and i was unable to chase them . I received many racial comments from young customers too , later on I invested and installed CCTV cameras that reduced such issues .
Did your background and culture had any affect over your job role ?
If you look at my family background , this is a very bold decision taken by me and few of my relatives strongly opposed it too , expressing that it is husbands responsibility to provide me everything . Coming from a respected family background this was a huge problem which I had to face because normally in our culture women tend to stay at home . What is your opinion on gender specific job roles ? Do you think it still exists or its does not matter these days ? My opinion has changed after my experience . I think women are capable of doing all the jobs that men do . Women should not just sit at their homes , they should live their lives according to their desires and also play equal role as man or their husband towards their family . Women have equal rights as men and this gender role , no more exists nor it matters .
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