Coming from a community in the southern Indian state of Kerala where women have always enjoyed some rights in society, it was an eye-opener for me when I came out of the state. In Kerala I had never heard of incidents of bride burning for dowry and when I lived in Mumbai, such incidents were definitely not unheard of. I was always upset at the rigid rules that Marwari women, in particular, were subjected to. While many of their men led interesting lives, most women were married off while in school. They spent their lives waiting on the men, cooking and raising their young and forgetting their own dreams. And what happened recently showed me how different things are at least for some of them in the present generation.

I had a pleasant surprise when after a gap of six or seven years I met a Marwari housewife who lives in my neighbourhood. I remembered that she came from a conservative large joint family. Several brothers, their wives and children and the old parents all lived in the palatial house with forbiddingly large gates. I enquired about her children and she proudly told me that just two days ago her daughter who had done extremely well in school and college had won a full scholarship to study for a degree equivalent to the MS in Germany in Biotechnology. Wow! That was progress with a capital P. I wondered aloud how the old granparents had agreed to send her off so far away. She said it had been difficult to convince them but the girl's father felt if they let this opportunity go she would regret it all her life. So they agreed to let her go and she now has to learn to adjust in a cold and strange country with different food habits, a strange language and a totally different way of life! Shows how far we have come from the confines of the kitchen, does it not?

From the gang of 7 to ...

The lunchtime gang is depleting so fast it is quite scary. From juggling to fit in all our butts not so long ago to two or three of us sharing what we bring at lunch these days is far less fun. Miss Saras's exciting fare, Kumud's saucy comments, and Sujatha's stories. Now lunch is at the canteen upstairs most days to take advantage of the pleasant weather and more comfortable seating arrangements.