India, March 14 -- The theme for International Women's Day 2026 is "Rights, Justice, and Action: For all women and girls". On this day, I was reminded of the "Bread and Roses" slogan from the 1911 women's suffrage and labour movement by a dear friend, who is an international figure in gender rights and justice.

It came from the poem Bread and Roses by James Oppenheim, which I revisited, especially for this line: "As we come marching, marching, we battle, too, for men - for they are women's children and we mother them again." I pondered the irony of this line.

From 1911 to 2026, much has changed in many ways. But, like the meaning of the phrase "We want bread, but we want roses too", it is not enough to say, "See how far women have come....