THE other day I had a rather rude awakening about my future prospects. With a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach – no, I had not overdosed on aloo bhurji – I stared at the object of my grief: A pompous line in the latest rejection letter which said “While your earlier experience at XX (read leading MNC) is interesting and relevant to the requirements, your more recent experience makes your profile unsuitable for this client”.

Uh oh, it finally happened. The current job market being such, I have been getting regular doses of Vitamin CB – that’s Character Building. But nothing had prepared me for that dreaded word: Unsuitable!

My crime, let’s face it squarely, regardless of the market downturn, can be found in the  above-mentioned “more recent experience”. Yes, the one which involved quitting a full-time, prestigious job to have fun with my babies. The only way I could do that to my heart’s content was by spending more time at home, rather than at a 6pm meeting. And, of course, if hubby had not been able to finance that lifestyle choice, it would have been a different story.

Anyway, after a fairly respectable period of glorified chauffeuring, juggling playdates and enrichment classes, making copious quantities of chicken pulao and halwa for UN  Day, I decided last year that it was time to don those professional threads again.

Needless to say, I obviously mistimed my re-entry as the world went into a tailspin at that exact moment. And the message for me is... “You’ve taken time off, had a tonne of fun with your kids, done hobby courses and really lived without a care in the world. So what if your brain remains sharp and your organisational and creative skills are on  speed dial?

Do you really think you can waltz back into a grown-up job?”

Well, okay, nobody said that to me. But I think they want to.

While the recession may have dried up opportunities, my predicament is not unique. My masala chai afternoons have revealed that mums who take a hiatus longer than the  acceptable norm of a year suddenly find a new clock ticking fast on their expiring shelf-life. Why is that? Do the powers that be think that our boardroom interaction will now be  interspersed with toddler prattle and manic flinging of objects at the projector?

Anyway, I managed to maintain my now-assumed- defunct professional composure and did not give into an irrational burst of letter-writing to giver of Unsuitable epithet. I have  to say, however, that I did seek refuge in my old scriptwriting notes. (Refer to those hobby classes I mentioned).

Here’s my chick-flick plot: Our leading lady wants to put her more recent role of child-rearing into lower gear and draw on past qualifications of the MBA-type to join the Real World Of Really Productive People. However, thwarted by the twittering circuit of recruiters, she draws blanks. Undaunted, she starts her own company of seriously bright  mothers (is there any other kind?).

First on Facebook and then on paper. World domination of the unsuitable kind!

I’m thinking of calling it How Ma Got Her Groove Back. What do you say?

The Reluctant Tai Tai is an Indian expat who loves high teas and gossipy martini sessions. But she has so much more going on in her life. Really!
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This article was first published in Tabla!