"What is your idea of Gender Equality?" the ace gender trainer posed a query in the brainstorming session of a gender training of the master trainers.

As expected the veteran group embellished the session with all hot-selling jargons, philosophies and conceptual frameworks. By the tea break every one was ostensibly happy on the participatory, gender-aware and gender-sensitive progression and pace of the training.

"You did not express your ideas", I asked a junior French colleague. "I was not sure of my English, all of your were speaking very fast, I am slow" he said puritanically.

"We, South Asians speak fast may be to hide our language flaws, but I am really keen to hear you on gender equality", I tried to assure him.

"Well, you know I have two bosses, a male boss and a woman boss. So far everything is ok. But I think that gender equality means that you have an equally incompetent woman-boss", he voiced in his soft, slow and shy style.

I wonder if some of us, believing in the strength of numbers, are actually implementing this dimension of gender equality.

My question is: Is gender equality a realistic target?

Dr. Rakhshinda Perveen