“And in this world, she is my world” – the famous line by Pierre Jeanty is always a reminder for me to cherish this beautiful phase of my life. I feel like a happy captive each time he wraps my finger with his little hand. The joy of being a mother to a beautiful child is enthralling and now that I look back, I feel it has been a journey of its own kind! My entire identity hit shuffle when my son, Vivan Mehta was born and the onset of this new phase is something to look forward to forever.

With the joy and excitement to embark the road to parenthood, I had my own trials and tribulations during the sixth month of my pregnancy. My life took an unexpected turn when I met with an accident. It resulted in a rushed delivery and bedrest post that for 12 weeks. On one hand I was a mother to a beautiful healthy baby and on the other, I underwent a severe surgery that required hitting pause on my career. It was tough. I always wanted to be a role model for Vivan – be a wonder woman who could take on challenges head strong you know? So that he could know me as the woman who can multitask, excel at work and manage all chores. But here I was, four days after my induction at Mashreq, availing a maternity-leave for 5 months. The jitters Banking is a competitive space and there’s intense competition for positions. I was a nervous wreck thinking of the judgment that would be thrown my way for taking a break this early on. All said and done, you don’t expect any company to so willingly offer maternity benefits to a new joinee. The “what now” jitters were real. But all these thoughts were put to a stall when I had a conversation with my manager. Her endearing words will always stay with me “We will always be waiting for you on the other side. What we want for you now is to recover and spend as much time as you can with Vivan. It’s important to be kind to yourself and know that you’re doing what you can with what you have at the moment you are in”. And that had me in awe. Joining back Now, it is no secret that returning to work after a maternity break can be overwhelming. I didn’t want to bracket myself to experiences woman generally face at the workplace post pregnancy, but I couldn’t help but wonder how colleagues would have perceived my situation. To my surprise, the concern disappeared within days of rejoining. In fact, no one asked me uncomfortable questions and were respectful of my privacy. People around me understood that taking time off is inevitable and that allowed me to dive back into work – without judgement. The support made a huge difference in getting accustomed to my dual role of mom and Senior Manager – Retail & Portfolio Management.

Today, I envision growth not only in my professional sphere but also my personal life. Truly working here has been like a renaissance for me and I have been able to be back on the spring – a mom, a banker and a woman who can withstand all!