Shubhangi Chitre, BTFL Travel #RiseLikeAPhoenix Special Feature ‘She needed a hero, so that’s what she became.’ Raised by a strong single mother and being the eldest in the siblings, Shubhangi Chitre, Founder, BTFL Travel PVT LTD became the ‘Man of the house’ and started working from an early age of 17. However, she never gave up on her dream of working as an air-hostess and post her graduation, bagged a job with Air France as a ground staff. Life changed when she got into an abusive marriage in early 2000 but she took a stand after facing an incident of verbal abuse in public. “I’m proud of the woman I am today because I went through one hell of a time becoming her. I got divorced when my daughter was an infant and it was not easy to put up a ‘Strong Mother’ face every day as the world was not kind enough. But sometimes the strength of a single mother is greater than natural laws,” said Shubhangi. She became a bill paying, home chores doing, meal making, guilty feeling, car pooling, rent paying surviving single mother at the age of 30. It was tough to balance a full-time job and managing a growing child. She dreaded days like ‘Parents day’, ‘open day’, ‘sports day’ as it was not easy to take an off from work, and taking a paid leave was never an option. After 20 years of experience in the travel industry, today she is a brand known for her excellent PR skills and manages her own travel representation company. She says, “As a single parent, you will need to be a hundred things at once. And it won’t be easy. Some days will really suck. But you will get through it. You will develop strengths you never knew you had. And trust me – you will learn to survive and slowly thrive too.” Don’t pity people like Shubhangi just because they are single parents. Respect them for having the courage to do it alone and the strength to never give up. It’s tough to #RiseLikeAPhoenix from the ashes of broken relationships and build a new world full of dreams & positivity for your child. So here’s a shout out to all the single parents out there who pay their bills and make things happen on their own. You all are the real-life super heroes of this world. #SingleParent#StayStrong#HaveFaith#TheDigitalTravellers Share this:FacebookX