Are you man enough to try it? That?s the poser thrown by Gladrags editor Maureen Wadia (picture by Rashbehari Das) to the ?24x7 married women? across the country.

Those who answer the clarion call will be subject to a strict screening process starting from Calcutta, moving on to Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. The contestants will vie for the Mrs India title conferred at the finals, tentatively scheduled for the second week of November in Mumbai.

The lady who started it all four years ago is in town for the first round of selections for The Gladrags Mrs India 2005 Contest at The Park on Friday. Maureen, who trained to be a teacher, moved on to become a flight stewardess before marriage to Bombay Dyeing chairman Nusli Wadia.

?But life hasn?t been a bed of roses for me, I work pretty hard,? she is quick to point out, while speaking of her 35-year-old marriage to the industrialist.

Her tryst with fashion and lifestyle has led to the bi-monthly magazine, sundry mega model searches and man-hunts and finally the Mrs India contest, making her a name to reckon with in the glamour industry.

Maureen?s own multi-tasking may have been the inspiration for the urge to ?pay a tribute? to the ?superwomen that married women are?.

?Her task never ends,? says Maureen, shaking a carefully coiffured head.

?I felt really sad that in our country married women were outcasts in the glamour industry,? she rues.

The urge to get ?Indian married women out of their cocoons? culminated in a ?fun outlet, a kind of Cinderella story with a lot of fun and glamour thrown in to empower them?.

The ?empowerment? goes beyond mouthing a few well-rehearsed lines on the ramp, Maureen stresses.

?Our grooming sessions are very broadbased and every participant emerges a winner, even if not all on the ramp,? she says. The regulatory diet and skin treatment apart, Maureen claims to delve deeper with financial and legal advice, and even tips on family planning.

The effort seems to have paid off, for the ?family reticence? in the first year of the pageant has given way to ?widespread enthusiasm from husbands and in-laws?.

?Far from deterring their wives or daughters-in-law, now the relatives and the contestants themselves are treating the pageant as a platform to get a toe-hold in Bollywood or the burgeoning television industry,? Maureen chuckles.

Move over Aditi Govitrikar et al, there are yet more Parvatis and Tulsis in the making, if this woman has her way.