Although she has quit her job now because her husband was posted elsewhere,Shabnam had no problems coping with work and baby-care while she was at UshaInternational. Says M R Singh, a senior HR manager at Usha International,``Shabnam is only one example. Women in general are given special treatmentin our organisation, he adds. ``We're particular about women being treatedwith care,'' he says.

Singh explains: ``We go out of our way to make things comfortable forwomen.'' At Usha International, claims Singh, women employees are notallowed to sit late in office. And if any woman employee does get late forsome reason, she's escorted home. Also, under special circumstances, womenare allowed to operate for half-days from home with only a nominal cut insalary, he says. Like it happened with Shabnam.

There's no written policy on special programmes for women at UshaInternational, but issues are considered at a very humane level on a case tocase basis. Of course, Usha is not the only organisation to take care of itswomen, but the club is still a small and select one.

The Indian offices of Ernst & Young, too, have similar programmes for women.A senior official at Ernst & Young says that the company believes in equalopportunity and similar work exposure. What about women-specific programmes?She says that after maternity leave, women are offered the option of goingpart-time.

All this is quite in keeping with the Western world. Savvy employers in theUS have family friendly schemes like walking your dog, paying your bills andlooking after your child. To be more specific, companies in the informationtechnology sector are devising unique ways to attract and retain their womenemployees. A recent article in a US publication spoke about these retentionschemes. It said that innovative companies are thinking about how to allowtheir employees -- men and women -- to reinvent their work and do `jobsculpting'.However, that doesn't mean that the world has stopped looking at women aspotential secretaries, as against men as managers. That trend continues inbig doses, despite women putting in every effort-from staying late at work,dressing professionally and getting membership in professional clubs.

But Sarah Banda Purvis, an activist and radio show host, offers a solutionthat may well break the glass ceiling. According to her, a woman has todecide on an individual level how to deal with the working world's realitiesand develop an individualised plan and time-line that meets her personal andprofessional needs as well as objectives. With Women's Day round the corner,let's hope that more organisations and individuals come forward to helpbreak the barrier.