I bleed. Period. Every month. Period. I buy sanitary napkins. Period. I need it to further my mobility. Period.
Familiarized yourself with the word ‘period’ yet? Great! Let’s move ahead.
So the government finally realized they should remove the high tax on sanitary napkins after bindis and sindoor! Thank you, especially for the years of wait! It just makes it an even greater happy occasion.
And a huge thank you to Arunachalam Muruganantham to take the initiative to make those long, chemical infused and uncomfortable napkins atleast cost effective to women way before government paid any heed to our needs! Also, to PADMAN the movie to bring this topic to the limelight, to allow it to become digestible to most of you (thus allowing me to write about it so openly, hush hush!)
And taking this very basic and very uncomforting phenomenon of blood spilling forward, some people out there have turned into Angels for ‘those days’! Ladies (and men who constantly will ask which brand to pick up from the aisle of the supermarket!), we now have brands like Nua Woman, Carmesi and HeyDay, amongst many others who are taking two steps ahead! Not only are they working on making our period experience a bit more happy, they also are making sure we don’t harm our environment on the way!
When you log on to buy these sanitary napkins, they make sure you get an experience of casually scrolling through those amazing nail paints in the shopping section and then showing them off on your Instagram stories! Yes, bringing chic and comfort to our business down under, these pads are tastefully packaged, even personalized to suit your needs and even look royally chic. Maybe get that camera out to show off the new box of pads you got! I am for one not hiding it around in newspapers or black polybags this time! And you know the best part?, we didn’t take another 10 years to realize that they should have been biodegradable! Yes, we thought ahead and made sure they are safe for the ladies and the mother earth alike!
While one of our members at CSR found it impossible to find any sanitary napkin on her long road trip from Goa-Delhi (that too on the first day!), we can hope now that the sale of the napkins becomes far reaching. With low-tax and more brands entering the market, it is time we get out box of necessity like we ask for Lux, Colgate or parachute! It is time that sanitary brands focus on making biodegrable napkins available in each shop in every kilometer thus ensuring accessibility and comfort for each stakeholder.
It is time we start keeping it simple. Period.
“This was in January 2017 when I with two of my male colleagues (mentioning intentionally) was travelling from Goa to Delhi by road. It was a 36 hours drive and my first day of period. Within two hours of starting the drive, I started chumming and was carrying just one pad. Assuming availability of sanitary pads as normality, I asked my colleagues to look for a store where I can buy pads after around 5 hours. We crossed Pune, Mumbai, Gujarat, Jaipur Highway but we could not find one store where Sanitary Pads were available. 36 Hours and One Pad with which I travelled to Delhi. Let me not get into what was I feeling when I got off the car. Let’s not talk about my pajama which was stained and the unhygienic state that I dealt with. Let’s just talk about why couldn’t I find one single store on the highway which was selling Sanitary Pad?” – Ms. Arnika Singh
About the Author
Sakshi Bansal is a student of psychology and a solo traveler. She is passionate about reforming education and incorporating social media and technological advances in her endeavors.
