“You must be the change you wish to see in the world ” – Mahatma Gandhi. India a land of culture and tradition where Gandhiji preached about sanitation and used to quote “sanitation is more important than independence ” lacks awareness about MENSTRUATION.One invention / development that changed the lives of thousands of women is that of sanitary napkins .In March 2017, the hostel warden of the Kasturba Gandhi Girls Residential School striped 70 girls of ten years of age because she saw blood on bathroom door. Gandhiji made cleanliness an integral part for all but women in India is ashamed of their own body. No matter how modern our lifestyle is but menstruation is always treated as a curse . Menstrual blood is the only source of blood that is not automatically induced. Yet in modern society this is the most hidden blood the one so rarely spoken of and almost never seen except privately by women. Although sanitary napkins were invented in 1956 by Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner, it was only in 1998 when a 57 year old man Arunachalam Muruganantham invented low cost sanitary pads for women. Menstruation along with blood brings many other things as well like the pain a girl endures emotionally by having many religious restrictions . Menstruation requires special attention both mentally and emotionally.Menstruation is a natural process yet is a taboo in Indian society as it is considered unclean and dirty. The norms related to menstruation is a big barrier in in the path of good menstrual hygiene .In some parts of India it is still believed that women should not bath during their periods. Menstrual waste is linked to witchcraft sometimes. Menstruation is not a problem poor menstrual hygiene is. Rural women use old cloth, newspaper, rag, dried leaves etc. as they lack knowledge about sanitary napkins. When Gandhiji said that it is easy to stand in crowd but it takes courage to stand alone , Arunachalam Muruganantham took it seriously and became obessed over making low cost sanitary napkins. In a recent survey taken by World Health Organisation also called WHO, it was seen that nearly 36% of women use sanitary pads rest either lack knowledge or does not want to buy one as it is lavish or too costly for them. There are 6 to 8 pads in one pack of pads which costs around 40 rupees i.e costly or waste of money for rural women. One of the key factors of lack of awareness among people is education. The question lingering is how we as an individual can take initiative in menstrual hygiene ?Though government had took a step towards menstrual hygiene in Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan but women are shy to come forward for it. We as an individual make a girl friendly environment among women and make menstruation a normal natural process rather treating it as a sin . Girls are harassed in school, they are made fun of their menstruation. Their classmates taunt them and call them by giving nicknames. Thus, to escape from these situations, girls skip schools during their periods which affects not only their studies but also their self esteem. Workshops can be held of boys and girls together to make them understand about their bodies and hormonal changes that they would experience on reaching puberty. In many schools in India, teachers avoid talking freely about it and skip an open class discussion on menstruation as they feel embarrassed and shy about it. Teachers escape from the questions asked by the students in class whenever menstruation is brought up. If we can talk freely about a recent murder read in a newspaper report then why menstruation is a taboo. No one wants to talk about it, women are given sanitary pads in black opaque polythene . There should beconfident teachers talking about puberty in classes in an open discussion . Once Arunachalam Muruganantham quoted “If I tell a foreign audience that only 36% of women use sanitary pads in India, there is a visible disbelief but if I tell same to an Indian audience, there is hardly any ripple.”To change the world one has to change oneself first. Why not treat menstruation as a normal natural process ? start from your home and make sure to pamper women of your house in their periods. Don’t feel shy to buy sanitary napkins and avoid black polythenes for the same. All that a women asks for is some love and care during her periods so show them that no matter what society thinks you are there for her. Once the change begins at home, the world will too change. The world took a small initiative by celebrating World Menstrual Day on 28 May.God has provided women with great strength you just need to give respect to her.In the end, I would like to conclude by the following quote “Our greatest ability as humans is not to change the world but to change ourselves.†– Mahatma Gandhi THANK YOU
