Scowls and frowns, bags, mobile phones, pepper spray, hair clips, safety pins...

Just one of the above qualifies as a weapon under the Arms Act. That's the pepper spray. But women are anything if not resourceful, and the motley list detailed in the opening sentence of this article is just a fraction of the universe of responses to a straightforward question posed by this writer of an assortment of working women (think, a small-time interior designer; think again, a hot-shot investment banker).

Each of these is an effective weapon of male dissuasion, the men having to be dissuaded, being those who consider any woman out on her own, fair game. No one, but no one can escape the unflattering attention of these types. It could be a sophisticated drunk on an international flight, a roadside gadabout who hops into the ladies compartment of a Mumbai local in the nether hours, an overly-interested passerby, a stalker, someone seated next to you on a bus, train, aircraft, even a neighbour curious about the single woman in the opposite flat.

First, there is prevention. Some women have a standard set of repellents that keep men (even other women) at bay. ''Wear a frown all the time,'' says Maira Deshpande, a Mumbai-based interior designer. ''Look bad tempered any time of day when you are on the road; that's the first message you need to send out-that you don't want anyone talking to you, leave alone messing with you.''

''I travel alone in trains and cabs at 2 a.m., 3 a.m.,'' says a 30-something TV producer. ''I am constantly on the phone with colleagues and friends because that is the only time I get to catch up with them-maybe it is a defence mechanism but that is what I do.'' The list of preventive measures is almost endless (and most men can't imagine how elementary they can get). A young investment banker, for instance, recommends that women flying alone opt for the window seat. ''Never take the middle seat,'' she says. ''You don't want to deal with two men. Pretend to sleep the moment the man next to you makes more conversation than necessary and ask for a change of seat the moment you notice your neighbour drink too much.''

Indeed, with travel becoming an integral part of work and an increase in the proportion of working women, more women travel, and each has a set of rules. ''While on tour, I avoid eating alone in restaurants, opting for room service instead,'' says a software professional. ''I make sure I am being received at the airport and if I need to take a cab, it is always the prepaid airport service.'' She pauses for a minute mentally ticking off the dos and the don'ts. ''Of course, I take no unnecessary risks like going into a local pub or discotheque unaccompanied.''

The advice proffered by women this writer spoke to would easily fill this magazine and then some. ''If you are staying at a hotel, keep your door locked at all times,'' says one. ''Dress according to the city you are in,'' says another. ''Yell FIRE, not HELP, when in trouble,'' says still another.

Then, there are the weapons. ''Even in school I used to carry a knife in my pencil box,'' says a Delhi-based woman. ''The pencils were a proxy.'' Knives are conventional weapons; the more unconventional ones range from perfume bottles (some can get quite heavy and inflict great harm) to sharp hair clips. ''Everybody expects a woman's bag to have a bottle of perfume,'' says one lady, explaining the logic behind opting for the same as a WMD. There's also a real weapon, Cobra Spray, now freely available in most Indian cities. This aerosol spray disables attackers for at least an hour after it is administered. That's just the thing for the trigger-happy.

-Priya Srinivasan

The Portmanteau of Ms. Powerful
10 wardrobe essentials no working woman can do without.

Progeon's Prerna Tandon: Square toes for business meets

It would be easy doing a 10 wardrobe essentials listing for Mr Powerful: dark blue or black, and tan trousers, a charcoal grey or navy blue suit, white shirts, regulation striped (or plain) ties, two pairs of shoes, one tan and the other black, polo shirts, blue jeans, and sneakers. Doing the same thing for Ms Powerful poses some challenges: there's more to choose from; the dark blue and tan trousers and white shirts, for instance, could be replaced by black, blue, or tan trousers, and white, blue, or pink shirts, salwar kameezs (tight or loose pajamas worn under a fitted or loose long tunic) of every conceivable hue, or 23 different varieties of saris; accessories (like wallets) are very much part of a woman's wardrobe (it is merely an afterthought in the case of men); and there's the jewellery bit. We've coped. And here are the findings.

1. The salwar kameez

Once restricted to the northern part of the country, this is now the uniform of the working woman all over the country. From clerks bussing it to their offices in Chennai to senior managers, even CEOs being driven to their offices in Mercedes sedans in Mumbai, everyone sports salwars. Case in point: Schauna Chauhan, Director, Parle Agro India, who invariably attends office in a simple short-sleeved salwar kameez. Reason? She is most comfortable in it.

Parle Agro's Schauna Chauhan: Her everyday habit

2. The sari and the silk sari

That's right, the garment is now global enough to escape the ignominy of italics. And it comes in just behind the salwar as the Indian working woman's habit of choice. Cottons work for Prerna Tandon, Vice President, Progeon, who insists that Kotas, Sanga-naris, and Maheshwaris (all types of saris) spell authority and floral chiffons, freshness and femineity (Tandon wasn't the only one to pick the chiffons either). And silks work for Lalita Gupte, Joint Managing Director, ICICI Bank (her favourites are Patolas). ''Saris are the easiest to carry, and they never go out of fashion,'' she says.

ICICI's Lalita Gupte (seated) and Chanda Kochhar : Sporting their evergreen wears

3.The black (or dark blue) trouser

An absolute must. As more than one woman executive we spoke to said, you can wear it to work, or at play. Wear them plain, or with pin stripes. Sudipta Sen Gupta, the head of marketing at Café Coffee Day, says this is the ''absolute essential'' in her wardrobe.

4.The white linen shirt

This goes with the black trouser. And you can have as many in as many colours as long as they are all white.

5.The business suit

One always-in-the-news designer this magazine spoke to recommended Indian women avoid business suits because ''they lack the butt needed to carry it off''. Still, an increasing number of women executives are opting for suits. ''Smart business suits are a must for every working woman's wardrobe,'' says Apurva Purohit, coo, Times Television. ''In a competitive world one cannot afford to dress any other way.'' Sujatha Visweswara, Practice Head (Portals and Content Management), Wipro, seconds that: she likes to attend business meetings in (what else?) business suits. Her quirk: she prefers suits in white and powder blue as they help her ''feel fresh''.

6 & 7. Shoes (in at least two shades, black and brown)

That's the bare minimum, but as Purohit puts it, having two shoes, one brown, the other black, saves her from the ''unnecessary botheration of having to match them''. That's not something Progeon's Tandon will go with: the lady has shoes that match each outfit of hers. ''Different coloured footwear, if kept well, can last forever,'' she says.

8. The dirty pink (or scarlet red or electric blue) shirt

Cafe Coffee Day's Sudipta Sen Gupta: Life isn't complete without black trousers

Any of these make a fashion statement when paired with blue or black formal trousers, and since we have put down that item as #3 on our list, this surely follows.

9.The handbag

Your everyday designer will likely recommend two, one in brown and the other in black. Since, our listing has space just for one, we'd like to recommend one, in a mixed colour (but subtle). Go for a mild pattern and remember what Mother told you: No one ever went wrong with a Louis Vuitton.

How important are accessories such as this? Very. ''I do not believe it when women say they do not change their accessories with their clothes,'' says Jayshree Sundar, Executive Director, Leo Burnett. Incidentally, her ear-rings always match her clothes.

10.Pearls (or diamonds)

Some prefer pearls. Others can't resist diamonds. Both can be worn to work, or to formal parties, although pearls seem to have more to do with boardrooms than ice.

Option: Women who do not wear salwars can make up the number with scarves. And those who believe a laptop case is as good a handbag as any, with perfumes. Actually, the perfume is a must for everyone, but there was no way we could fit it into the list without cheating.

-Supriya Shrinate & Amanpreet Singh

A Little Light Reading...
... and viewing. Books and movies from the chick-lit and chick-flick genre no self respecting working woman should miss.

The Devil Wears Prada
By Lauren Weisberger
In which young Andrea Sachs goes to work for Miranda Priestly, the editor of Runway magazine, and turns hoops and somersaults hoping for a recommendation that will get her into The New Yorker.
PS: Weisberger once served as an assistant to Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

The Nanny Diaries
By Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
Or how children are reared in Manhattan's Brahmin circles and nanny-type workers are treated all over the world. Written by two former nannies, saved from future nannying by the surprise success of the book.

Jane Eyre
By Charlotte Bronte
Eyre is the original working girl who did her job, retained her independence, got her man, and lived happily ever after.

Little Women
By Louisa May Alcott
Simple, Jo March is, and has been, the role model for working (and for that matter, non-working) women all over the world.

Bitch: In Praise Of Difficult Women
By Elizabeth Wurtzel
A celebration of defiant and destructive women through the ages-Delilah, Amy Fisher, Princess Di, and more of the like.

Disclosure
Michael Douglas, Demi Moore
Directed by Barry Levinson
Based on a book by Michael Crichton
Not content with grabbing a promotion everyone thinks should go to Douglas, her former lover, Moore sets out to ruin him by sexually harassing him, then smartly turning the tables.

Erin Brockovich
Julia Roberts. Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Unemployed single mother becomes paralegal, then almost single-handedly brings down a large polluting California power company. Hurrah!

Bridget Jones's Diary
Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant Directed by Sharon Maguire
Based on a book by Helen Fielding
A working girl's search for the perfect man that most single women will relate to; as will a legion of middle-rung execs to Jones' working life.

Mona Lisa Smile
Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst
Directed by Mike Newell
Set in the 1950s when women were very much the weaker sex, this motion pic is about a Wellesley art professor (Roberts) who tries to do her bit to open the minds of her students.

Down With Love
Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor
Directed by Peyton Reed
A parody of the typical 1960s sex comedy, Down... details the adventures of a feminine advice author (Zellweger) who makes it big in the world of publishing.

TREADMILL
Fitness Tips For New Moms

Three months back, soon after the arrival of a new baby, I caught my significant other looking ruefully at one of her favourite pairs of jeans: a well-worn, low rise, boot-cut, thigh-hugging number, which fitted her like a second skin. Pre-pregnancy, that is. She caught me looking at her and laughed: "Don't smirk; I'm getting back to the gym soon and I'll be back to my svelte old form in no time!"

If it were that easy, all new mothers could sigh with relief. Many expectant mothers, particularly those who exercised regularly before pregnancy (like my s.o.), secretly hope that they can shrink back into their old clothes in a wink after junior arrives. And, often, this results in unrealistic goals and deadlines for weight-loss and muscle toning. Here's something you should know: it takes longer than you think. But that's no reason to feel discouraged. Here are a few tips that may be of help:

Break up workouts. The biggest problem in getting back into shape is the sudden paucity of time that new mothers face. Between nappy changes and feeds, 45- to 60-minute workouts are luxuries that you can kiss goodbye. Solution: instead of one long workout, grab several small ones. While the baby is sleeping, do a 10-minute session of push-ups and stretches; steal a 10-minute brisk walk when she's in the stroller with you at the park; grab that rope and squeeze in another 10 minutes of skipping while you sterilise the bottles and so on. All of it adds up and burns calories, which is the basic objective, isn't it?

Set your goals realistically. Let's face it. Not everyone can be Madonna. Sure, you can get as ripped as her at 46 but (and ponder this for a moment) do you have her support system (read personal trainers, a battery of nannies, dieticians, coaches, what have you)? And remember, your body may never look as it did when you were in college, but does it matter? After all, the idea is to be in shape, not win contests.

Be as active as your baby. As your child grows, do what she does. Run, climb, race, jump, exercise in the park when she's getting dirty in the sand-pit. Make that a habit. Take an afternoon walk with your baby, either in a sling or a stroller. Your walk should be brisk enough to make you breathe deeply but not sock you out of breath. You can burn around 100 calories in a 2-km brisk walk.

Get part-time help. A responsible babysitter or helper may cost money but can free you up for a couple of hours to tend to your workouts. Besides, buying nice training wear like a snazzy sports bra or spandex shorts may help in motivating you too, even if you have to wear that billowy shirt and loose pants over all of that.

Pregnancy And Work
For working women, pregnancy is as much a period of delight as it is of distress. Here is a faq-list that should help.

SHOULD YOU WORK? Normal, healthy pregnant women should work. "Work till you are comfortable; keep busy," suggests Nutan Pandit, a Delhi-based childbirth counsellor. You could ease things by taking work home. At office, "Take intermittent breaks, put your feet up and try and have a lie-down during lunch," says Dr. Sohani Verma, Senior Consultant, Gynaecology and IVF at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. And yes, put a cushion behind your back.

PRECAUTIONS TO TAKE: The usual suspects: avoid lifting heavy objects, and don't drink or smoke. Verma also suggests: "Air travel should be avoided in the first trimester and the last six weeks."

DIET? Balanced, of course: "Have five meals instead of three," says Verma. This reduces acidity and indigestion. Have fruits, protein biscuits, soaked almonds, milk (plain) and lassi. Pandit suggests "a mix of jaggery and chana to munch on" at work. If nauseous, eat what you can keep down and indulge in a midnight snack. Remember, the healthy weight to put on is between 8-12 kg.

WHAT ABOUT EXERCISE? You could walk in the morning and evening, do yoga, swimming and back exercises. Never point your toes, walk straight and yes, no high heels.

ABOUT REJOINING WORK: Six weeks is minimum, three months, normal and six months, ideal. To ward off any embarrassment, Pandit suggests: "Before rejoining work, stop feeding the baby between the hours you will work. The body takes a week to adjust, and you don't want to leak at work."

-Amanpreet Singh