Is it a Disease?

Image: Flickr/Frank De Kleine Coloring (Creative Commons)

"Is it a disease?", she chatted on gTalk and I could imagine the look of disgust on her face. That wasn't the face I remembered, she had been my model once when I knew about cameras and did some shoots alongside my day jobs. And that was a pretty face and a good professional over that. "Call me now", I gTalked back. "At work, will call in evening", she typed back. "No, call me now", work wasn't more important.

Irene (name changed to protect identity) didn't mince her words, she had a question for me. "How come, till yesterday I was perfect for the job and suddenly my work has to be reallocated, delegated, just because the strip showed a red line?" "Does it make sense Prashant? Is pregnancy a disease?".  She had even been to two job interviews, one of which made an offer and then pulled back when she told them the good news. 

Irene didn't work for me and she spoke to me because she felt I had interest in Organization practices. But her agony was very real, very there and her question is one that stares Indian Entrepreneurs in their faces. What's so scary about a Woman employee turning pregnant that Entrepreneurs and Organizations go bonkers. Isn't it the simplest of human resource realities that an enterprise needs to provision for? How impossible is it to cover for 3 month leave followed by a few months of WorkFlex? 

While somewhere else in the World a pregnant Merrisa takes charge as CEO of global Internet giant Yahoo, closer home Entrepreneurs are playing "I need no pregnant" with the most potent workforce around and calling their ventures sick in the process. 

I offered Irene a job with WorkFlex option and assured of connecting her to more good ventures but I continue to think........ Are we building the Awesome Ventures that we had set out to build as Entrepreneurs?