The actress attended an event held by a Meghan Markle backed NGO — Myna Mahila Foundation – that organised multiple sessions on the importance of menstrual hygiene in the city on Saturday
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; July 29, 2019)

On Saturday, the city witnessed multiple engaging sessions on the importance of menstrual hygiene and menstrual health management. Eminent speakers, social workers, actress Taapsee Pannu, government representatives and BMC officials actively participated in the much needed conversation that tackled various issues like effective methods of menstrual hygiene education, involvement of state in Menstrual Health Management (MHM) Programme, inclusive periods and effective sanitary waste disposal — the challenges, solutions and inclusivity during periods in India. Organised by Myna Mahila Foundation, a Mumbai-based NGO that works towards empowering women in India about menstrual hygiene, this foundation came into the limelight after it was chosen as one of the seven charities to benefit from donations marking the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May, 2018.

BT had even visited the NGO’s workplace in Govandi last year, to understand how it provides employment to women, raises awareness, breaks period taboos and whether Meghan Markle’s previous visit to Mumbai had got things moving for the NGO, founded by a young Suhani Jalota. She along with her few team members even flew to the UK, where they were invited for the royal wedding by The Duchess of Sussex. On Saturday, the NGO held its annual conference called Myna Speaks, which is held every year to tackle nuanced issues in MHM.

WASTE MANAGEMENT IS A BIG PART OF CREATING AWARENESS
A discussion on sanitary waste disposal, recycling and segregation in particular offered a great insight. “No one wants to talk about waste management. Once it’s in the trash can, it’s not the end of the story. Some still flush their sanitary pads in the toilet or simply throw them out, which can then be consumed by animals. People need to segregate sanitary waste first, for it to be recycled or disposed off well,” said one of the panelists. The effectiveness of incineration as a disposal option was also debated.

WE NEED MORE AWARENESS ABOUT MENSTRUAL HYGIENE AMONG SEX WORKERS
The sessions were insightful and in some cases, alarming. A sex worker, who is now a peer educator with Snehalaya, (a foundation that has been working to bring rescue, rights and rehabilitation to those adversely affected by the commercial sex industry) left everyone in shock and tears when she shared what sex workers go through during their periods. “We don’t have access to sanitary pads to begin with. Girls use things like the sponge that’s used in bus seats to absorb the blood during periods. As it is, sex workers are more likely to contract Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and menstrual hygiene is not even an issue that’s discussed. We can’t tell anyone that we have periods, else we lose business. Everyone is superstitious in brothels, so if they get to know you have periods, you may or may not get the same food as everyone else as they don’t want to make it impure. So, you send someone to get a vada pav for yourself and survive on that for the number of days that you have periods.”

Dr Girish Kulkarni of Snehalaya added, “They don’t want to lose out on their business even for the three or four days. They buy them cheap medicines that delay their periods and over time, this can lead to various severe health complications, including cervical cancer. They are not treated like humans, there’s no question of menstrual hygiene.”

‘WHY ARE WOMEN MADE TO FEEL SO AWKWARD TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING AS BASIC AS THEIR PERIODS?’
Ahead of her panel discussion, the actress met us and shared how even her family believed in various taboos surrounding menstrual cycle. She questioned, “Why can’t you talk about periods like it’s a normal thing? Why are women made to feel so awkward to talk about something as basic as their periods?” She shared personal experiences laced with humour. She revealed, “We give this weird terminology to periods. ‘Down ho gayi hu, I am chumming’. The funniest one was when this girl in my school said, ‘Aunty aa gayi hai. Aarti ka samaan ready hain kya’? Aarti ka samaan is sanitary napkin and aunty is periods! This terminology was coined so that we could speak openly about the issue. It was amusing at that point, but you follow it because you are told it’s supposed to be a secret. I played along. We were told things like, ‘aachar ko haath nahi lagana, aachar kharab ho jayega’. Girls are told not to touch pickles during their periods!”

The actress also wondered why sanitary napkin ads showed the colour of blood as blue and not red. Or why napkins are often wrapped in black packets or newspaper, and sold like meat or alcohol. “As a child, I would wonder if a sanitary pad was something so expensive that it can’t be shown to people. Why do you hide it in one corner of your house? In my house, we are three women (my mother, sister and me) and we still followed these taboos. For instance, things like, not getting out of your room if you get period cramps. My dad would understand, but he was told that we are having headache or food poisoning... and these were all excuses to cover up period cramps. I wondered why one needed to hide it like it was some crime. We are educated, live in metros and yet, we look at it as an embarrassment? It’s ironic how people in certain parts of the country celebrate puberty and then, don’t allow you to enter temples. Also, parents celebrate when their daughter gets pregnant, but how does she get pregnant? How come this embarrassment then turns into celebration during pregnancy? People even call it a girl’s ‘problem’. Why is it a problem?”

“Sometimes you see boyfriends and husbands, who are more or less aware in life, who wouldn’t mind talking about your pregnancy, but they are disgusted by periods. They don’t want to hear ‘that’. And I think to myself... We are going through it and you are disgusted by the talk of it? A lot of women feel psychologically down during their periods. For me, it happens right before it starts. I feel everything bad is going to happen to me. There seems to be no hope, but the mood is back and spirits are high once the periods are done, so women are always on a roller-coaster ride. How many women even talk about this?”, asked the actress.

Taapsee, who also felicitated a young 17-year-old activist Saleha Khan for her contribution to spreading awareness about menstrual hygiene, concluded her talk by saying, “Women should ask questions, and learn to ask why.”

‘THE DUCHESS OF SUSSEX HAS BEEN A KEEN SUPPORTER OF WOMEN’S ISSUES’
While the Duchess of Sussex wasn’t present at the event, Nicola Brentnall, CEO, The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust (Overseen by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) was the keynote speaker at the event. After the conference, she told BT, “From being carefree children, girls suddenly find themselves isolated as they can’t share anything about menstruation with anyone. The shame, stigma and taboo surrounding menstruation needs to end. Myna Mahila’s work is to let girls know that periods are totally normal and there is nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. Safe disposal is also an issue. I learnt a lot and met some truly well-informed women who are getting important work done here. The Duchess of Sussex has been an active supporter of the foundation and keen supporter of women’s issues. Suhani was invited for her wedding last year and that’s how I met her. The Duchess was here once, and hopefully, she will come back in the future.”


Suhani Jalota and Nicola Brentnall

Pad Man director R Balki and the original Pad Man, Arunachalam Muruganantham, in the wake of sanitary napkins being exempted from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a decision that has been lauded by people across society, including activists
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; July 24, 2018)

Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said on Saturday after a meeting of the GST council that sanitary napkins were exempted from the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Previously, sanitary pads were charged at 12 per cent tax under the one-year-old GST regime, which attracted some serious criticism from various quarters of the society, including social activists, women and celebrities. The GST on sanitary pads has now been cut from 12 per cent to zero, which has evoked a positive response across the country.

In February this year, actor Akshay Kumar’s socially-relevant film Pad Man, eventually became a posterboy of the campaign, as it propagated menstrual hygiene and aimed at changing the taboos and stigma associated with periods. Delighted with the decision, Akshay tweeted, “One of those days when news brings tears of joy as a cause close to your heart gets fulfilled. Thank you, #GSTCouncil, for understanding the need for menstrual hygiene & exempting sanitary pads from tax. I’m sure crores of women in our country are silently sending gratitude your way.” Twinkle Khanna, the producer and writer of the film, too welcomed the decision. She wrote, “When I raised questions about why there was GST on sanitary pads I had a large number of people barking at me. Glad to see positive results finally #PadManTalks.”

Talking to BT from London, director of Pad Man, R Balki said, “I am so pleased with this news. Pad Man has woken up a lot of people and sensitised them to the important matter of menstrual hygiene. This proves once again that cinema can create real and positive change!”

Social entrepreneur and inventor Arunachalam Muruganantham (below; left), whose heroic real life story and initiative towards the cause inspired Pad Man, spoke to this paper. He said, “I welcome the withdrawal of GST on sanitary pads. Now India can truly become a superpower by empowering every woman in this country. Now, every woman will be a superwoman. Everyone will have access to sanitary pads as the prices are bound to come down by 10 to 15 per cent. Girls won’t have to skip schools owing to periods. This will enable the country to become academically strong. Credit goes to the central government and the finance minister for making this happen. Even the United States of America hasn’t done this yet. I am extremely proud of our country and its people.”

Speaking about the film, he added, “What we couldn’t achieve in so many years, a film like Pad Man has managed to do – spreading the required awareness. Balki and I continue to advocate the cause, even after the film has released. We still talk about it and the conversation needs to go on. This move will ensure menstrual hygiene even at the grass-roots levels. Even today, Akshay Kumar calls me to discuss matters related to this issue.”

While many have embraced the government’s initiative, there are some who wonder if the raw material needed to manufacture a sanitary pad should also be exempted of taxes. Mumbai activist Suhani Jalota, whose NGO Myna Mahila Foundation (below) works closely towards this cause, said, “The raw materials for sanitary napkins are used to manufacture many other products, not just sanitary napkins. So, I don’t know if it is feasible. Overall, the GST wasn’t the largest cost burden, so this move wouldn’t necessarily change the prices much. Let’s see how the manufacturers react to this change.” She added, “This is a good signal from the Government that they are responding to the public. Lower tax rates on sanitary napkins were needed to help reduce prices on the necessity product, however the manufacturing cost may increase.”

Deane De Menezes, Founder of ‘Red Is The New Green’ campaign and recipient of the Queen's Young Leader Award, who works towards installing sanitary napkin dispensers and incinerators in Mumbai’s schools welcomes the move. Her campaign stresses on another bigger issue which is disposal of sanitary napkins. She told BT, “The decision of the GST Council to remove the tax is a good move. Nobody should miss out on an opportunity because of lack of affordability, as menstruation is a normal bodily function. This is definitely a step in the right direction towards making our country period positive.”