Chandigarh Traffic Cop Cradles Baby On Duty: She Shouldn't Have To, But She Can

Chandigarh traffic cop holds baby while performing her duty: A video of a Chandigarh traffic cop performing duty while holding her baby has gone viral on social media. In the video, the cop can be seen regulating traffic while holding her child in her harms.

The staff had asked the Chandigarh traffic cop to go home if she wanted to, but the cop carried on with her duty. Many may point out that this woman shouldn't have to perform her duty while carrying her child. Provisions should be made for mothers with smaller children, so as to ensure that they either have someone to care for their kids while they are on duty, or are not put in a situation where they have to exert so much physically. However, this traffic cop's commitment needs to be lauded as well.

ममत्व और कर्तव्य का संगम !!❤️#Chandigarh #Khaki #JaiHind pic.twitter.com/mQo4ODujgt

— SACHIN KAUSHIK (@upcopsachin) March 5, 2021

It is not easy to carry around a child all day long, that too under the sun and with another chore on your hands. Take it from someone who has done it for years, till the kid was old enough to run around rather than remain perched on mumma's hip. So while the concerns about this woman's service conditions are genuine, we cannot forget that numerous women, like this traffic cop power through motherhood and work every single day.

Numerous women carry on with their work with small children in-tow on a day to day basis. Some are not privileged enough to be able to afford child care services, others do not have a support system to back them. But even when you are privileged enough to have both or either of the two at your disposal, you will find yourself in a situation when motherhood and work-related duties need to be tackled in the same breath, work-life balance be damned.

The husband is in meetings all day, your maid is absent, mother-in-law is a bit under the weather, and you cannot afford leave from work on that very day. What do you do? Sit down and curse the situation? Revel in your misery, if you have a second to spare? Or simply roll up your sleeves and dig into all the chores that need to be sorted, taking it one second, one minute and one hour at a time?

Most mums, myself included, have been in this situation. The stars don't always align for you to have a perfect day where you can equally divide your time between your children, household chores and your work. On most days life is a giant mess and at then end of the day one is not able to recollect how all the chores were taken care of, and in what order.

I have seen my mother prop my younger sister on her hip and make rotis with a single hand, because there was no help available at that point of time.

I wrote my first published book while cradling my young daughter during afternoons because my husband had exhausted his paternity leave and we couldn't find a nanny for me to be able to spare some time to work.

Washing dishes, sweeping the floor, commuting with heavy luggage, working out, plucking tea leaves, climbing hills; mothers do so much every day while caring for their young ones. Where do we get this strength from? What makes us brave sleepless nights, aching backs and exhausted bodies, to keep working, keep functioning and keep being moms? Perhaps motherhood makes us stronger, or perhaps us women are stronger than we realise, and motherhood makes us realise that.

So yes, women deserve support during motherhood, both from their families and employers, but we also need to acknowledge our resilience. We should respect and love our body and mind for always having our back when no one else does. On some days, it is equally important to celebrate our commitment, while we fight for equal rights and better lives. The fight is for a better future, the celebrations are for how far we have come and where we stand today, with our heads held tall and no challenge big enough to make us see motherhood as a hurdle.

The views expressed are the authors' own.

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