Dear Readers,

She may head the department, be the most reliable corporate manager, or constitute the pillar of a bureaucratic mission, yet the right to live on her own terms has hardly been achieved through India's pro woman programmes. The perception of a woman still lies as a homemaker, entrenched firmly within the folds of the family fabric - her demands, likes and needs subservient to the wishes of the whole that may or may not perceive her as irreplaceable. Standing alone, against or apart is her integral weakness. She needs to fall in line. But a woman cannot be forced, extracted and singled out from her family and urged to stand alone. She just won’t do it until the situation is beyond endurance. It would steal her support system - something she has learnt to depend on since childhood. I feel that time has come to adjust our focus,  where the man is embraced with the woman. Indeed very few policies in our country have broken the family barrier and when man does his bit  - women will automatically turn emancipated. Portraying such thoughts and more we have published articles by eminent professors in this issue, commemorating the International Woman's Day. A photo essay too forms part of this edition. Travelling to the interiors of Valmiki Tiger Reserve, West Champaran, Bihar, we were suitably impressed with the progressive nature of Tharu women, who were not only far ahead in literacy than their female counterparts, but multi tasking effortlessly, from childcare to handicraft, and from farming to small scale enterprises.