Single, Successful and Safe

Survival tips for the single woman making a career away from home...

PALLAVI has just got a job in an old economy manufacturing company and the posting is in the city of Mumbai . While she did have a horde of well disposed relatives who promised to house her, she was an independent woman and wanted her own space and grabbed the itsy bitsy flat provided by the company. The single bedroom apartment with attached bathroom, kitchenette and a view overlooking Worli sea face was perfect.

After getting the gas connection, the electricity and phone lines up, she made a list of things that had to be done to live safely in the cosmopolitan city.

Safety

Know thy neighbours:

At the first opportunity she got she made sure that she acquainted herself with the neighbours. Even though irksome questions regarding her single status were raised, she knew that their association was essential for her survival. Right from collecting courier deliveries during her absence and questioning any kind of suspicious movement around her flat she needed their support.

Self-defense

She did not aspire for a black belt in Karate, but made sure that she learnt the basic self-defense techniques so that she could protect herself from any kind of masochistic, maniacal stalker and could if needed, inflict considerable amount of discomfort to discourage such attacks in the future. She ensured that at no moment was she vulnerable even though she was living alone without any male support.

She always carried an umbrella and a torch in her tote bag in case of a sudden downpour or black out with the advantage that these items doubled as self-defense tools.

Number remember!

Next, she sat down and made a list of phone numbers that she would need at her fingertips to face any kind of situation. This list consisted of the contact numbers of her relatives residing in the city, the nearest police station, fire department, ambulance service, nearest pharmacy, her boss's cell phone number, home number, and her office contact numbers in that order of importance.

Under lock and key and connected!

Apart from the automatic locks installed on her front door she bought a padlock and retained the set of keys with herself. In the coming months she also installed an alarm system that would alert the nearest police station in case of a break in. Subsequently a fire alarm would also follow that would alert the nearest fire station in case of a blaze.

Cue cards

She made two cue cards with details like her contact numbers, the name of the people to contact in case of any emergency situation, the name of the company she worked for, her blood group, her home address and any kind of allergies that she had. While she kept one card in her purse she left the other with her secretary so that in case of an accident or mishap people will know whom to contact to come and take care of her.

Rest Insured!

She insured all her valuables and also took out a policy on her life so that she was covered to cope with any kind of catastrophic situation.

Money matters

Money was never an issue for Pallavi and was made available on demand by her parents. Apart from a generous amount of pocket money, she had credit cards and charge accounts in many stores around town. However, now being on her own she realised that a stringent eye on the inflow and outflow of money was necessary so that she did not become shortchanged in the time of need or at the end of the month.

* At the beginning of the month she sat down and allocated resources to various fixed costs like, insurance premium, electricity, telephone bills, gas cylinder, groceries and any kind of emergency she could foresee. A flexible amount of money was also set-aside for variable costs like entertainment, shopping and personal travel.

* From the beginning she made sure that 20% of her take home salary amount went into a kitty as savings for the future. Money from this kitty invested in various mutual funds, fixed deposits, and postal savings thus building up a secure investment portfolio.

Young women nowadays are opting to work away from home not wanting to restrict their career scope due to location constraints. While competitive pay packets offer financial independence, a little bit of planning and responsible behaviour will ensure their security enabling them to enjoy the fruits of their hard work.

MALINI SURYANARAYANAN

maalini.mds@careercommunity.co.in