Mythili Chandrasekar

From breaking the glass ceiling in boardrooms to using micro-finance at the grassroots and driving rural entrepreneurship, from working night shifts in BPOs to teaching foreign children online from home, from biking in the Himalayas to being employed by banks to recover loans from defaulters, Indian women are breaking into so many male bastions -- even as the better-off spend more and more on looking more beautiful and showing more skin! Here is a small news item in The Hindu dated Oct. 13 that made me salute the gender, one more time.

Take a look. They are now being trained by the Building Association of India in electrical work, painting, carpentry, plumbing. Said M.K. Sundaram, chairman of the Builders Association of India:"The women have been deprived of the opportunity to effectively contribute to the industry. As they are unskilled, they get low wages. This initiative of providing training in painting, plumbing, electrical and carpentry work for women unskilled laborers will help them earn more. It will also contribute well to the construction industry."

May the idea spread. This is not just a positive step forward from women carrying heavy loads in construction sites. Maybe our problems with the slippery tribe of male household maintenance jobbers will come to an end!