[anupamsr]

Unfortunately they are not reporting any truth. Coverage of India in BBC, NY Times and western media in general is still only using Oriental tropes that are as much based on fact UK/USA are based in India. Which is to say, none at all.

Reality is that women are lot more autonomous and free to do what they want to do in rural areas as well as are men. Gender ratio is much much better in rural areas all over the India over urban "educated" westernized cities. (The same westernized Indians are actually the first one to criticize anything Hindu traditionalist or rural). Women work in fields as well as men. Of course in a traditional agrarian family based society of Indian villages, gender roles are defined - but they are defined for men as well as women and none are more oppressive than the other.

Unfortunately those are all nuances that don't sell well in English speaking people who are suffering from superiority complex.*

*Which includes English speaking Indians and foreigners.