Nepal, March 9 -- "There is nothing girls cannot do if given the right guidance and opportunities." Mamata Kumari Yadav was born just before her father passed his high school exam on his second attempt. Which is why Ram Kewal Ray thinks his daughter brings good luck.

Mamata is now a government civil servant, and has three sisters and a younger brother. All are doing well in their professions: one is a doctor at the Army Hospital, another has an MSc in Microbiology, and the other is working in Australia after finishing her MPh. Her brother, an engineering student, is in Kathmandu.

"It was all because our parents prioritised education that we did so well in life," says Mamata. Instead of being woken up to do household chores or work on th...