Reasons to Smile The main auditorium in the Kumaon State Guest house (Nainital) resonated to the sound of the chief guest’s speech. Margaret Alva Governor of Uttarakhand was addressing the audience. The subject : the state of women of India with special reference to those engaged in agriculture. The occasion: The National Seminar on Gender & Development in the World of Work and Health – with Focus on Agrarian Women. Phew! Quite a mouthful one would think, but since our organisaton WWHI(Women Work & Health Initiative) was behind it, I knew that none of the words in the title could invite the delete key, without diluting some of the message of this debate. Prof. Patel the Chair, in her address, pointed out that in an unequal world, while women form ½ its inhabitants , they earn 1/10 of its income and own merely 1/100 of its resources. These were sobering statistics and point to a world of inequities, which manifests itself in so many different ways. Dr. Kaistha's address emp...