I told my parents that I wanted to work on menstrual hygiene because I believe a girl can achieve everything if she is healthy.
Precisely what menstruation is, is not yet very well known.
Nobody in the society will talk about menstruation... it's a taboo in my country. That's why I'm branded by society as a psycho.
Men have periods too, they just don't bleed.
When I took admission in a medical college, I found that apart from the lack of education, what stopped girls from menstrual management was a limited access to sanitary pads.
You know in sixth grade, when they made all of us girls go into this other room and watch a video about getting our periods and stuff? I bet while we were gone, the boys were watching a video about how to look at each other in that infuriating way.
As we know, menstrual hygiene is an issue women have been facing over the years. It's great that the initiative to provide low-cost sanitary napkins has been undertaken. It is an empowering step for many women.
I'm ecstatic to be known as pad man, as it makes a difference to women's lives.
I was doing some research on menstruation for a column. I read about Arunachalam Muruganantham's life and work, and his story gripped me, and that is when I sat down, wrote the first few pages, and sent them off to my editor to have a look.
Wherever I went and spoke about menstrual hygiene, I was beaten up by people. I used to cover my cheeks with both my hands whenever I went to speak on the subject, so how could I ever imagine that someone would make a film on such a topic?
My project for menstrual hygiene is about empowering girls.
I already have a pet project called Project Shakti and it aims on educating women on menstruation cycle.
Over half the world menstruates at one time or another, but you'd never know it. Isn't that strange?
I was ten. I had noticed something was weird earlier in the day, but I knew from commercials that one's menstrual period was a blue liquid that you poured like laundry detergent onto maxi pads to test their absorbency. This wasn't blue, so... I ignored it for a few hours.
It was tough to cope with the pressure of having to talk about menstruation, but now with 'Newsweek' splashing it as the cover story, I thing the point I wished to make has found its mark.
Pissing in jars, they had never been handed a fifteen-year-old Kotex product by the school nurse. But they trusted me and Paula, so I'm proud to say we made
The menstruation taboo is ancient, and there are so many theories about it. For some, it is fear of blood, and for some, period blood is toxic. If you read the theories about menstruation, you might even laugh.
Well, menstrual hygiene is a cause that is close to my heart.
I had been getting queries from regional filmmakers to do a movie based on my work. But I did not want my work and mission - to create awareness on menstrual hygiene - to be restricted to only a part of the country. In fact, I wanted to do the movie in Hollywood.
Mentioning the word 'menstruation' has always been a taboo in India. People always shy away from talking about menstruation hygiene, and the awareness about the topic is very dismal.
The government should include menstrual hygiene in the curriculum.
The use of sanitary pads and the dos and don'ts should be discussed with openness so as to make a hygienic and healthy life for the women.
My vision is to make India into a 100% sanitary-pad-using country. Menstruation is no more a taboo.
There should be awareness on menstrual hygiene among men as well.
When I tell a foreign audience that 90 per cent of Indian women have no access to sanitary napkin, there is a visible disbelief. But there is hardly a ripple when I say the same thing to an Indian crowd.
