'Promotion to fatherhood': Man leaves high-paying job to spend time with his newborn

Ankit Joshi, an IIT Kharagpur graduate, claimed he left his position as a company's Senior Vice President in order to spend more time with his newborn daughter. He gave the excuse that he only had a limited amount of paternity leave.

The man told Humans of Bombay that a one-week paternity leave was insufficient to care for Spiti, his daughter.

When Joshi and his then-expecting wife, Akanksha, decided their plans for their future daughter, including giving the baby her namesake valley's name, they were travelling to Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh.

Even before she arrived, the father admitted, he had been considering the "bizarre decision" of leaving his well-paying job. While the majority of his friends and family disapproved, his wife Akanksha defended him.

"I know it was a strange decision," Joshi admitted, adding that while people warned him that things would get difficult in the future, his wife supported him.

“I’d just started off a new job a few months ago as the Senior Vice President. My work took me to different cities and as much as I enjoyed it, I wanted a longer break after Spiti’s birth. I knew the company couldn’t extend my leave. And so, I put in my papers–I called it a promotion to fatherhood & loved it!.”

Speaking with Humans of Bombay, Joshi also disclosed that since quitting his job, he has been spending all of his time taking care of Spiti. "Life has been all about her since then. Be it swinging her in my arms till she sleeps to waking up in the night to sing her lullaby, I'm cherishing these moments," he said.

Shortly after the birth of their daughter, Akanksha, who is currently on a six-month maternity leave, was promoted to the position of manager.

“Seeing her excel in both, her career and motherhood is so fulfilling,” said Joshi.

In his final remarks, Joshi discussed the role that short paternity leaves play in ensuring that mothers carry out more parental responsibilities than fathers. “But at the same time what disheartens me is to see how most companies give a significant, next-to-nothing paternity leave. It isn’t just about how less the father connects with the child but more about reducing the responsibility of a father in the role of upbringing."

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