Girls get their periods at the age of 12-14 years, but our Indian text books don’t address the topic till class 9 or 10 (15 years). This means we have had generations of girls hitting puberty without any knowledge of the biological process and believing in every incorrect detail that’s passed down via generations. If the teachers ever address the issue, it’s only in the passing and not in detail, because they themselves are so ashamed of it. That’s exactly how my first tryst with the subject was too.
My First Period
I was 12 years old when I got my first period and that’s when my mother had to reluctantly explain to me the nuances of menstruating.
She told me how it was supposed to be kept a secret even from my father and brother. My mom would also tell me how I should and should not do a lot of things. Life wasn’t going to be the same during those seven days of the month, I realised.
I grew up in a joint family in the small town of Garhwa in Jharkhand, India. For a girl coming from a conservative middle class society, menstruation is a taboo, even today. But 12 years ago, it was strictly a closed subject. So it never occurred to me that I need knowledge of menstruation or how to deal with it.
Even though I belonged to a well-settled, educated family, I used a cotton rag instead of a sanitary napkin. And no, this wasn’t because pads weren’t available. It was because going out and asking for them in a store would impact my family’s reputation in that small town, where everyone knows each other.
It was after I got my period, that I realised what the hush hush talks amongst my older cousins were, which they left me out of. They would discuss their problems but only in whispers, hiding it from everybody else.
Drowning in Cloth
I used an old discarded cotton cloth that was folded in the shape of a pad. I had to wash and dry it in a corner of the bathroom that was dark and dingy. Over time, the cloth would become coarse and leave horrible rashes, but I was never given another option.
In fact my mom once came up with an idea that if she bathed me in two and a half mugs of water, my periods would last only for two and a half days. Of course this did not work and I bled for a full seven day cycle.
Don’t Touch the Pickle!
Women on their periods are considered impure, even today. I remember not being allowed to touch the jar of pickles in the belief that it would get spoilt if touched by a menstruating woman. My mother even insisted that I should not sit on the sofa or on anyone else’s bed accept for my own. She would discourage me from taking a bath and even entering the kitchen and I was made to stay secluded away from festivities and social events.
It was like, for those seven days, I was a forbidden entity who was not allowed to move around freely and stopped from worshiping the gods too. In fact, even today, many temples have a sign board that discourages the entry of women on their period.
The Discovery of Pads
Discovery of pads came when I was sent away for further studies after school, and lived in a hostel where there was only one bathroom for 10 girls. In such a situation, it was impossible to dry the rag in the bathroom. At first I was very worried about how I would manage during ‘those days’. But my roommate suggested sanitary napkins and said they were easily available at the medical store. I was apprehensive, but there was little else I could do. So I hastily went to the chemist and asked for the pads, which was handed to me, neatly wrapped in newspaper and put in a black polythene bag.
When I did use the pads, I discovered a different world. One that was clean, comfortable and easy even, during those terrible days. I no longer had to worry about staining my clothes, or washing off the rag and then drying it. But even though personal hygiene was taken care of, I could not forget the aches and cramps that marked my periods each month.
My Boyfriend’s First Period
Oddly enough, it was my boyfriend in college then and now husband, Tuhin, who got me thinking about the need to know more on the issue of menstruation. This goes back to our student days at Ahmedabad’s National institute of Design, when we were classmates. It was when Tuhin and I began dating in college, that he discovered the nuances of what women go through. Since Tuhin was one of two brothers, he didn’t know much about menstruation except what he learnt in biology class, again, all very technical. He was truly amazed and would look it up in order to be more helpful to me while I would be crying in pain.
His research proved to be an eye opener for us both and I learned things about menstruation that nobody had ever mentioned to me. This comes from someone like me who is well educated and got to attend college, unlike many others. We realised then how this subject was ignored in our country and was laced with myths and beliefs that surrounded the whole phenomenon of periods.
So when we had to do a project together, Tuhin and I chose to research on menstruation and the myths surrounding it. This research revealed some startling facts and made it clear to us that awareness is the need of the hour. For most people, it was only a means for getting pregnant and producing a heir. In fact they considered it the most impure thing.
The Groundwork
My research involved talking to a lot of teenage girls, parents and NGOs that helped me understand the subject better, especially in an Indian context. That’s when Tuhin and I decided to take Menstrupedia to the next level and make it a tool to educate girls in India.
Our project won a scholarship and became a prototype of what is now known as Menstrupedia.com, a website which provides information on every aspect of menstruation and helps break the bubble of myths that surrounds this topic.
Even though the idea was conceived years ago, Menstrupedia came to life only in 2012 when Tuhin (husband) and I had both made enough money from our corporate jobs and were ready to give that up and invest in a venture that was close to our heart. It was a small start with only 900 visitors a month initially but we were always aiming high and soon crossed the 1 lakh visitors mark.
The Sky is the Limit
With a user-friendly website, fun and colourful comic strips and a story line inspired from real life scenarios, Menstrupedia soon began to get its due. Along with my husband and co-founder Tuhin, friend Rajat Mittal handles the technology part, whereas a gynaecologist, Dr. Mahadeo Bhide helps with the technicalities of the subject.
We have also noticed a shift in the mindsets of people overtime. While once people shied away from talking about periods, but now they come forward in the urge to teach their daughters what is best for them.
Our success can be measured by the way Menstrupedia is performing today. Menstrupedia the book has sold 1000 copies from September 2014 and its second edition in English and Hindi will soon be available. And I hope we will soon be known worldwide for our simple effort of creating awareness about menstruation. More important is the awareness to be able to freely talk about this biological process.
As told to Zahra Z. Motorwala
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