Did *you* know it was Women's Day?

I did, but only because of all the related newspaper articles and advertisements I've seen since arriving in India. But even if I hadn't noticed those, I would have become aware of it because of a charming, if slightly odd, encounter I had as I was crossing the Oval Maidan (the green* space which runs through the middle of south Bombay). An office worker walking alongside me asked where I was from. He introduced himself and invited me to shake his hand and upon doing so he congratulated me on the fact it was International Women's Day. He then told me the news that Katherine Bigelow had won the Oscar for best director...commenting that this was an historic achievement as she is the first women to ever do so, and what a great coincidence that it was on Women's Day. I agreed it was good news and after a few moments more chat we went our separate ways.

Today is also the day that parliament here debates a bill to reserve one-third of the seats for women. It's been rejected several times over the last 13 years, but seems to have some momentum behind it. In a country where the advertising slogan "The economy has recovered - time to buy your wife that big new fridge" is used without apparent irony, we should probably keep our fingers crossed. But then according to our own parliament we're only at 19%, so I really shouldn't judge!

To round off the day with one more female-focused item; Adam, Stephen and I went to the Fifth IAWRT Asian Women Film Festival this evening. Perhaps that makes it sound a little grander than it was....we went to a lovely gallery run by one of Adam's friends, sat on the floor on cushions with about 25 others, and watched about 90 minutes of short films. Or, we would have watched 90 minutes if the discs hadn't keep sticking. Ah well.


*For 'green' read 'dusty orange with green patches'