India, March 31 -- Festivals in India have increasingly acquired a different colour - that of pomp and show without paying attention to the real reasons for celebrating the occasion. International Women's Say celebrated recently is no exception any longer. Traditional and social media spout platitudes, advertisements from government and other sources claim credit for change when the ground reality is very different. Voices of feminists with conviction, making demands for improvement of women's status in the society, including poor working women, get drowned leaving pretty much no trace behind.

The situation of women scientists also needs to improve significantly. Although a highly educated tribe, women scientists in India (and globally) ...