"Hush! you don't talk about this stuff"
"Ayyoo! who told you that? I will speak to her parents about this"
A woman's menstruation cycle, or periods, is the last thing the India male should talk about. It is a taboo to even take that word. When a girl comes of age, in Indian culture, the women of the household, distant aunts and ladies from the neighborhood Tupperware club drop in. Hindu traditions indicate that she is worshipped, sort of, with a camphor, thali and aarti. The males are conspicuous by their absence. They are often huddled in some corner of the room, discussing the 'period' of Indian economy, politics and scandals.
Watch the TV ads of sanitary napkins. No where will you find a guy buying his mother, girlfriend or wife a Stayfree. The same rule applies for mistress. The soap operas have the same thing too. Kyunki Saas Bhi..., Kasuti Zindagi Ki..or take Saraswathichand; for all the clash of traditions and melodrama, this topic never makes it to the script. Sexy lingerie? Yes. Weight loss pills? Definitely. Condoms? Eureka! Sanitary napkins? I've never seen you.....
The men duck behind newspapers, magazines, or pretend they did not hear the word. We, the men, are really glad and thank Nature and God that we do not have to go through "the cycle". It would be traumatic to hear that Salman could not host Big Brother because of it was his "that time of the month", or Sharukh could not do Lungi dance 'cause of his cramps and crabs... that's just unacceptable. But nature did give sympathy in a pathy (husband). The man of the house, i believe, should not shy away from discussing this. Better sons will made good boyfriends, husbands and fathers. And the first step is to shake-off the taboo of even mentioning the word.
Yes. There is a small coterie of women, some who will launch a tirade against this blog post too, that support the status quo. "These are matters of the ladies. You should not interfere in it." To make matters worse, the local Kirana shops give the sanitary pads in black polythene covers, the ones reserved for rubbish. Women will refuse to step-in to temples as a menstruation is considered unclean and uncouth.
This in a country where more than half of our Gods are females.
I've seen girls wait for a long time to ensure that the billing counter is empty in a grocery stores, and no one is watching while they buy a pack of sanitary pads. And once its done, they quickly shove it inside their bags, too fast even for the security cameras to capture. Their mothers hang around, keeping a watchful eye for creepy cashiers and helpers.
Arunachalam Murugatham is an idol for this topic. Not only did he discuss this topic with his wife, for which she left him, he ushered a revolution in rural India. With a balloon made of animal blood tied to his lower abdomen, he tested it on himself how a woman feels during menses. With this experience, probably the only man to claim this on his resume, he started low cost sanitary pads. These pads cost less than the ones in the market. This has changed the lives of girls in villages in India, Africa, South America and counting.
Before you snigger and type LOLs, remember that unclean cloth, commonly used in menses, is a leading cause of infection and death in young women. Ignorance kills.
Instead of reducing this chapter and that on sex to a few paragraphs in text books, with words and images that confuse than create awareness, let us make our boys sit down and explain to them what exactly goes on in a woman's body. Sure, they might run screaming out of the living room, with updates on Wassup and Facebook, not to mention the emoticons that will add to the melodrama. But once the euphoria and embarrassment wears off, you will actually have a sonny who respects women, a lad who will stand up for an equal and just society, and still listen to Rap God a hundred times.
Dear mam, its time the Indian male started to have his period.
"Ayyoo! who told you that? I will speak to her parents about this"
A woman's menstruation cycle, or periods, is the last thing the India male should talk about. It is a taboo to even take that word. When a girl comes of age, in Indian culture, the women of the household, distant aunts and ladies from the neighborhood Tupperware club drop in. Hindu traditions indicate that she is worshipped, sort of, with a camphor, thali and aarti. The males are conspicuous by their absence. They are often huddled in some corner of the room, discussing the 'period' of Indian economy, politics and scandals.
Watch the TV ads of sanitary napkins. No where will you find a guy buying his mother, girlfriend or wife a Stayfree. The same rule applies for mistress. The soap operas have the same thing too. Kyunki Saas Bhi..., Kasuti Zindagi Ki..or take Saraswathichand; for all the clash of traditions and melodrama, this topic never makes it to the script. Sexy lingerie? Yes. Weight loss pills? Definitely. Condoms? Eureka! Sanitary napkins? I've never seen you.....
The men duck behind newspapers, magazines, or pretend they did not hear the word. We, the men, are really glad and thank Nature and God that we do not have to go through "the cycle". It would be traumatic to hear that Salman could not host Big Brother because of it was his "that time of the month", or Sharukh could not do Lungi dance 'cause of his cramps and crabs... that's just unacceptable. But nature did give sympathy in a pathy (husband). The man of the house, i believe, should not shy away from discussing this. Better sons will made good boyfriends, husbands and fathers. And the first step is to shake-off the taboo of even mentioning the word.
Yes. There is a small coterie of women, some who will launch a tirade against this blog post too, that support the status quo. "These are matters of the ladies. You should not interfere in it." To make matters worse, the local Kirana shops give the sanitary pads in black polythene covers, the ones reserved for rubbish. Women will refuse to step-in to temples as a menstruation is considered unclean and uncouth.
This in a country where more than half of our Gods are females.
I've seen girls wait for a long time to ensure that the billing counter is empty in a grocery stores, and no one is watching while they buy a pack of sanitary pads. And once its done, they quickly shove it inside their bags, too fast even for the security cameras to capture. Their mothers hang around, keeping a watchful eye for creepy cashiers and helpers.
Arunachalam Murugatham is an idol for this topic. Not only did he discuss this topic with his wife, for which she left him, he ushered a revolution in rural India. With a balloon made of animal blood tied to his lower abdomen, he tested it on himself how a woman feels during menses. With this experience, probably the only man to claim this on his resume, he started low cost sanitary pads. These pads cost less than the ones in the market. This has changed the lives of girls in villages in India, Africa, South America and counting.
Before you snigger and type LOLs, remember that unclean cloth, commonly used in menses, is a leading cause of infection and death in young women. Ignorance kills.
Instead of reducing this chapter and that on sex to a few paragraphs in text books, with words and images that confuse than create awareness, let us make our boys sit down and explain to them what exactly goes on in a woman's body. Sure, they might run screaming out of the living room, with updates on Wassup and Facebook, not to mention the emoticons that will add to the melodrama. But once the euphoria and embarrassment wears off, you will actually have a sonny who respects women, a lad who will stand up for an equal and just society, and still listen to Rap God a hundred times.
Dear mam, its time the Indian male started to have his period.
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