RITU JAIN

Excelling in everything she took up, her interest in economics led her to secure a high position at ICICI bank. She fell in love with a chartered accountant, and they got married, braving through their new lives together. No, this story doesn’t just end with happily ever after. Once again, she defied all the norms imposed upon her. She had a love marriage, which in those days was unacceptable- almost a crime amongst the aunties in the colony.

A few years down the line, these young achievers were now parents of a baby boy – my brother. My mother persevered professionally, determined to establish a bright future for our family. The next few years were perhaps the most difficult of her life. Immediately after maternity leave, she returned to work with a bang. Outdated with the new technology, she fought to keep up and continue where she left off. Mom continued to ascend higher in her job than she already had, while battling for sleep and time, conflicted in her two loves: banking and motherhood. Obviously, we greatly appreciated her for her efforts in simultaneously building our family and empire, but she often felt guilty for not experiencing her son grow up as much as she could have. And so, at the peak of her career, she resigned.

But my mother was too ambitious to sit idle and decided to help TLC Legal. Initially, she would multitask between her tiring work-from-home job, and even worse - my exhausting brother. She would stay up all night with a crying baby in one hand and a massive LLB book in the other. Anyway, she prepared for a few months for the dreaded law exams, which normally takes years to study for. Obviously, nothing was ‘normal’ about this extraordinary miracle who topped the city! Imagine- she did better than the man who taught her law! That’s the kind of genius my mom is.

Part 2/3 (continued...)

Written by Preksha Jain