Beyond taboo & silence

Padman changed things, for sure. Not just because Akshay Kumar put the issue on 70mm screen that raked in over Rs 200 crores, but largely because he also narrated the story of a wilful and inspiring Arunachalam Muruganantham, who introduced low-cost sanitary napkins. And, partly because that film thrust a sanitary pad in the hand of each celeb worth his salt from the B-town! The silence, the stigma and the taboo; they all needed to be broken before the issue could be on par with other causes. Which is why we need Menstrual Hygiene Day more than any other day. Girls from the region, who’ve worked for the cause share a few notes.

Rural focus

Nineteen-year-old Eknoor Chahal, from Mayo College Girls School, admits to having received those weird glances all through her efforts at creating menstrual awareness in rural areas. “Our efforts are actually concentrated towards rural areas where talking about menstruation is still a taboo, and we noticed this every time we set out to conduct workshops, awareness campaigns and pad distribution drives at government schools and rural areas.” Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree from Panjab University, she is one of the six co-founders of the project Triya, which aims at creating menstrual awareness and hygiene. “Six of us are menstrual trainers certified by a UK-based company that even did a workshop and a drive in the city at Sukhna Lake a couple of years back.”

It’s a right

Many a cynic might have asked along their journey – why do we need menstrual activism in the first place? Sixteen-year-old Jaanvi Singh admits to being touched enough by the movie Padman. “I wanted to distribute free sanitary pads to the needy girls. Before the film, I wasn’t even aware that there are girls who still use cloth or other materials. My thoughts immediately shot to how uncomfortable I am during that time and what underprivileged girls must be going through.”

A class XI student at Welham Girls School, she strongly feels touched about the fact that several million girls don’t have access to sanitary pads. “It shouldn’t be a choice; it is a right that should be available to every girl. And it’s certainly not a taboo.” Taboo she did break, asking her friends and brothers even to join in the drive to make low-cost sanitary pads and then distributing them.

Break the silence

Activism can happen only if there is acceptance of a problem. “Menstrual activism is perhaps peculiarly placed in this area. But, first to accept, we need to at least talk about it. Everyone is a feminist these days, but menstruation is somehow not talked about,” feels 17-year-old Navya Chawla, a pass-out of Strawberry Fields High School, another co-founder of Triya, a project under which research is already underway. She adds, “There are so many ridiculous things about societal traditions to do with menstruation, like not being able to visit places of worship. It’s seriously discouraging.” Not the only objectionable thing she found out. “Did you know some women even use burnt charcoal on a cloth?”