New Delhi, Dec. 15 -- Bangladeshi society is now floating in a wave of change. The society that once kept women in the privacy of the home and handed all the responsibilities of life over to men is now witnessing a new rise in women's efficiency, confidence and leadership. Whether in the offices or in the green rice fields of the villages, the presence of women is visible, clear and inevitable. However, this transformation does not happen evenly; in some places it flows like a stream, in others it slowly breaks down old barriers.

Bangladesh's social structure has been built on a patriarchal system for a long time. Men were the masters of the family, the representatives of society, the spokespersons of the state. Women were the craftsmen ...