Walk into a downtown office or a government ministry. You can't miss her. She site at the desk, red petticoat peeping out from underneath her brown sari, navy socketed feet stuck Into mud caked sandals, damp hair squiggllng down her back. This epitome of careless and indifferent dressing is a fairly senior officer in a respectable firm, or maybe high up the tedder In government service. But one look and you would not feel Inclined to entrust even your faundry to her. far less your bank account Her air of inefficiency may be deceiving, she is probably very good at her job. but you

would never guess Cleanliness and neat

to figure in her personal vocabulary.

The sb me My appears a adding caked with make up. gleaming with Jewels. and dressed in the latest Indian smuggled sari (with matching petticoat) Which is merely topointout that she is perfectly capable of over dressing. So why is the pro fess Io naI woman in Dhaka such a torture to look at? One woman I see every day never irons her saris or seems

to have brushed her hair, yet she wears golden high-heeled pumps . 'What if your salary doesn't permit to buy nice clothes?" one girl complained. Please spare the pumps and spend the money on hair pins to avoid looking like a sheepdog when you come to work.The matter has nothing to do with money. It has everything to do with tradition . respect and effort.

There is no traditions of working women in Bangladesh. Barely two generations of women have been in the work force. This lack of precedent is often blamed for the non existence of a dress sense among middle and upper-class working women. You would never guess these women have attended college, where the standards of dressing are generally better. No one is asking for Joan Collins-designer wardrobes (God forbid), but surely neatness is a crucial element of an efficient look. Acrisp cotton sari of the cheapest kind confers more dignity on the wearer than an expensive gorgettc falling all over the files. Nor docs wearing that grey blouse with the brown sari inspire confidence in your prospective clients. Hair may look attractive all wlnd-bloWn on the beach, but it will not help you hook the next assignment

Respect for professional women has made enormous strides tn this country. But since life is

still considered Incomplete Without a husband and family, the advent of women in the workplace has not freed diem from cxpecta- . lions back home. Many feel their real role is as mother and wife, and that their working persona is secondary . or worse, not as prestigious. Dress reflects that lack of pride. A woman who would not be caught dead at a party without he lipstick and freshly pressed sari dimes- io work in a crumpled salwar-kamccz

with stains on it. What docs this say of the way she feels abut her work?

It lakes little effort. Dhaka women are unrestricted by "Cosmopolitan "fashion dictates and trendy clothes. They have a choice a wide variety of saris and salwar-kameez, in terms of both price and style. Make-up or no make-up is not the issue. Nor is "dressing-up" in any quantitative sense. But it is within everyone's means to look clean, and to a certain extent, efficient.

Tone down the flashy shoes. That's not what gets the Job done. There is as yet no shortage of safety pins or combs: women can pin thei r saris and brush their hair, if nothing else. Please let's not look like the "what-not-to-do" pictures in fashion magazines.