Bangladesh, March 24 -- Those who would in the past travel regularly by train are used to the spectacle: A woman or a girl all of a sudden turning the panel of her unfurled umbrella towards the rail compartments and hiding herself from the gaze of male passengers. To foreigners, it was an extraordinary scene. But it had been the part of culture in the country for ages. Before the advent of train, the womenfolk would meet strange males coming from the opposite direction. Here, too, they would be eager to let the males pass by them. They maintained a modest distance from the male passersby, their face turned aside.
Compare these unique scenes with their modern versions. The other day a Dhaka daily newspaper showed the photograph of a group o...