0:00:00.681,0:00:02.281
Periods.

0:00:02.286,0:00:03.640
Blood.

0:00:03.640,0:00:05.195
Menstruation.

0:00:05.636,0:00:07.107
Gross.

0:00:07.107,0:00:08.824
Secret.

0:00:08.824,0:00:10.092
Hidden.

0:00:10.596,0:00:11.896
Why?

0:00:12.974,0:00:14.832
A natural biological process

0:00:14.832,0:00:18.621
that every girl and woman[br]goes through every month

0:00:18.621,0:00:20.924
for about half of her life.

0:00:20.924,0:00:23.596
A phenomenon that is so significant

0:00:23.596,0:00:27.659
that the survival and propagation[br]of our species depends on it.

0:00:28.664,0:00:31.102
Yet we consider it a taboo.

0:00:31.357,0:00:34.683
We feel awkward[br]and shameful talking about it.

0:00:36.045,0:00:37.879
When I got my first periods,

0:00:37.879,0:00:40.940
I was told to keep it[br]a secret from others --

0:00:40.940,0:00:43.378
even from my father and brother.

0:00:43.910,0:00:46.510
Later when this chapter[br]appeared in our textbooks,

0:00:46.510,0:00:48.899
our biology teacher skipped the subject.

0:00:48.899,0:00:50.733
(Laughter)

0:00:52.273,0:00:54.500
You know what I learned from it?

0:00:54.500,0:00:57.681
I learned that it is really[br]shameful to talk about it.

0:00:58.361,0:01:00.938
I learned to be ashamed of my body.

0:01:00.938,0:01:04.166
I learned to stay[br]unaware about periods

0:01:04.166,0:01:06.366
in order to stay decent.

0:01:06.666,0:01:08.505
Research in various parts of India

0:01:08.505,0:01:13.149
shows that three out of every 10 girls[br]are not aware about menstruation

0:01:13.149,0:01:15.422
at the time of her first period.

0:01:15.652,0:01:17.378
And in some parts of Rajasthan

0:01:17.378,0:01:22.166
this number is as high as nine[br]out of 10 girls being unaware about it.

0:01:22.927,0:01:24.686
You'd be surprised to know

0:01:24.686,0:01:27.086
that most of the girls[br]that I have spoken to,

0:01:27.086,0:01:30.716
who did not know about periods[br]at the time of their first menstruation,

0:01:30.716,0:01:33.265
thought that they have got blood cancer

0:01:33.265,0:01:35.729
and they're going to die soon.

0:01:37.038,0:01:42.972
Menstrual hygiene is a very important risk[br]factor for reproductive tract infections.

0:01:43.300,0:01:46.485
But in India only 12 percent[br]of girls and women

0:01:46.485,0:01:49.875
have access to hygenic ways[br]of managing their periods.

0:01:51.069,0:01:52.629
If you do the math,

0:01:52.629,0:01:57.203
88 percent of girls and women use[br]unhygenic ways to manage their periods.

0:01:57.597,0:01:59.269
I was one of them.

0:02:00.051,0:02:03.207
I grew up in a small town[br]called Garhwa, in Jharkhand,

0:02:03.207,0:02:06.388
where even buying a sanitary[br]napkin is considered shameful.

0:02:07.127,0:02:09.314
So when I started getting my periods,

0:02:09.314,0:02:11.619
I began with using rags.

0:02:12.756,0:02:15.540
After every use I would[br]wash and reuse them.

0:02:15.540,0:02:16.563
But to store them,

0:02:16.563,0:02:19.364
I would hide and keep it[br]in a dark, damp place

0:02:19.364,0:02:22.499
so that nobody finds out[br]that I'm menstruating.

0:02:22.887,0:02:25.371
Due to repeated washing[br]the rags would become coarse

0:02:25.371,0:02:28.575
and I would often get rashes[br]and infections using them.

0:02:29.056,0:02:33.375
I wore these [... ] for five years[br]until I moved out of that town.

0:02:35.754,0:02:38.158
And I'm [very sure] that periods[br]brought in my life

0:02:38.158,0:02:40.556
those [of the] social restrictions

0:02:40.556,0:02:44.899
that are imposed upon our girls[br]and women when they're on their periods.

0:02:44.899,0:02:47.072
I think you all must be aware about it,

0:02:47.072,0:02:50.346
but I'll still list it[br]for the few who don't.

0:02:50.968,0:02:53.836
I was not allowed to touch or eat pickles.

0:02:53.988,0:02:58.586
I was not allowed to sit on the sofa[br]or some other family member's bed.

0:02:58.975,0:03:01.520
I had to wash my bed[br]sheet after every period,

0:03:01.520,0:03:03.387
even if it was not stained.

0:03:03.387,0:03:05.121
I was considered impure

0:03:05.121,0:03:10.028
and forbidden from worshipping or touching[br]any object of religious importance.

0:03:11.042,0:03:13.345
You'll find signposts outside temples

0:03:13.345,0:03:16.201
denying the entry[br]of menstruating girls and women.

0:03:17.229,0:03:18.763
Ironically,

0:03:18.763,0:03:21.527
most of the time it is the older woman

0:03:21.527,0:03:25.776
who imposes such restrictions[br]on younger girls in a family.

0:03:26.497,0:03:30.514
After all, they have grown up[br]accepting such restrictions as norms.

0:03:30.777,0:03:33.772
And in the absence of any intervention,

0:03:33.772,0:03:35.856
it is the myth and misconception

0:03:35.856,0:03:38.642
that propagate from[br]generation to generation.

0:03:39.517,0:03:41.351
During my years of work in this field,

0:03:41.351,0:03:42.908
I have even come across stories

0:03:42.908,0:03:46.113
where girls have to eat and wash[br]their dishes separately.

0:03:46.466,0:03:48.788
They're not allowed to take[br]baths during periods,

0:03:48.788,0:03:52.736
and in some households they are even[br]secluded from other family members.

0:03:53.993,0:03:57.474
About 85 percent of girls[br]and women in India

0:03:57.474,0:04:02.607
would follow one or more restrictive[br]customs on their periods every month.

0:04:03.496,0:04:05.878
Can you imagine what this does[br]to the self-esteem

0:04:05.878,0:04:08.420
and self-confidence of a young girl?

0:04:08.876,0:04:11.647
The psychological trauma[br]that this inflicts,

0:04:11.647,0:04:14.294
effecting her personality,

0:04:14.294,0:04:16.166
her academic performance

0:04:16.166,0:04:20.466
and every single aspect of growing up[br]during her early formative years?

0:04:21.883,0:04:26.636
I religiously followed all these[br]restrictive customs for 13 years ...

0:04:26.636,0:04:29.028
until a discussion[br]with my partner, Tuhin,

0:04:29.028,0:04:31.791
changed my perception about[br]menstruation forever.

0:04:32.484,0:04:37.619
In 2009, Tuhin and I were [posing][br]our post graduation in design.

0:04:38.027,0:04:39.746
We fell in love with each other

0:04:39.746,0:04:42.765
and I was at ease[br]discussing periods with him.

0:04:42.969,0:04:45.230
Tuhin knew little about periods.

0:04:45.703,0:04:47.794
(Laughter)

0:04:51.916,0:04:55.655
He was astonished to know[br]that girls get painful cramps

0:04:55.655,0:04:57.560
and we bleed every month.

0:04:57.810,0:04:59.097
(Laughter)

0:04:59.097,0:05:00.142
Yeah.

0:05:00.899,0:05:02.678
He was completely shocked to know

0:05:02.678,0:05:07.732
about the restrictions that are imposed[br]upon menstruating girls and women

0:05:07.732,0:05:10.269
by their own families and their society.

0:05:10.269,0:05:12.447
In order to help me with my cramps,

0:05:12.447,0:05:16.139
he would go on the Internet[br]and learn more about menstruation.

0:05:16.901,0:05:18.617
When he shared his findings with me,

0:05:18.617,0:05:21.868
I realized how little I knew[br]about menstruation myself.

0:05:22.122,0:05:25.675
And many of my beliefs[br]actually turned out to be myths.

0:05:26.497,0:05:28.256
That's when we wondered:

0:05:28.256,0:05:30.663
if we, being so well educated,

0:05:30.663,0:05:32.707
were so ill-informed about menstruation,

0:05:32.707,0:05:36.817
there would be millions of girls out there[br]who would be ill-informed, too.

0:05:37.971,0:05:39.190
To study --

0:05:39.190,0:05:41.128
to understand the problem better,

0:05:41.128,0:05:45.674
I undertook a year-long research to study[br]the lack of awareness about menstruation

0:05:45.674,0:05:47.600
and the root cause behind it.

0:05:48.198,0:05:50.003
While it is generally believed

0:05:50.003,0:05:55.884
that menstrual unawareness and[br]misconception is a rural phenomena,

0:05:55.884,0:05:56.973
during my research,

0:05:56.973,0:06:00.038
I found that it is as much[br]an urban phenomena as well,

0:06:00.038,0:06:04.328
and it exists with the educated[br]upper class, also.

0:06:05.344,0:06:07.875
While talking to many[br]parents and teachers,

0:06:07.875,0:06:12.480
I found that many of them actually[br]wanted to educate girls about periods

0:06:12.480,0:06:13.510
when they have --

0:06:13.510,0:06:16.397
before they have started[br]getting their menstrual cycle.

0:06:17.027,0:06:18.245
And --

0:06:18.245,0:06:21.740
but they lacked the proper[br]means themselves.

0:06:21.963,0:06:23.403
And since it is a taboo,

0:06:23.403,0:06:24.429
they feel inhibition

0:06:24.429,0:06:26.676
and shameful in talking about it.

0:06:27.038,0:06:31.796
Girls nowadays get their periods[br]in classes six and seven,

0:06:31.796,0:06:33.485
but our educational curriculum

0:06:33.485,0:06:37.502
teaches girls about periods only[br]in standard eight and nine.

0:06:37.958,0:06:40.178
And since it is a taboo,

0:06:40.178,0:06:44.125
teachers still skip[br]the subject altogether.

0:06:45.073,0:06:49.369
So school does not[br]teach girls about periods,

0:06:49.369,0:06:51.482
parents don't talk about it --

0:06:51.482,0:06:53.664
where do the girls go?

0:06:53.995,0:06:57.432
Two decades ago and now --

0:06:57.432,0:06:59.606
nothing has changed.

0:07:00.404,0:07:02.186
I shared these finding with Tuhin

0:07:02.186,0:07:03.411
and we wondered:

0:07:03.411,0:07:05.019
what if we could create something

0:07:05.019,0:07:09.268
that would help girls understand[br]about menstruation on their own?

0:07:09.450,0:07:13.558
Something that would help[br]parents and teachers

0:07:13.558,0:07:16.932
talk about periods[br]comfortably to young girls.

0:07:17.995,0:07:19.753
During my research,

0:07:19.753,0:07:21.657
I was collecting a lot of stories.

0:07:21.949,0:07:26.454
These were stories of experiences[br]of girls during their periods.

0:07:27.147,0:07:30.189
These stories would make girls[br]curious and interested

0:07:30.189,0:07:33.811
in talking about menstruation[br]in the their close circle.

0:07:34.349,0:07:35.788
That's what we wanted.

0:07:35.788,0:07:38.900
We wanted something that would[br]make the girls curious

0:07:38.900,0:07:40.897
and drive them to learn about it.

0:07:41.344,0:07:44.552
We wanted to use these stories[br]to teach girls about periods.

0:07:45.583,0:07:48.559
So we decided to create a comic book,

0:07:48.559,0:07:51.856
where the cartoon characters[br]would enact these stories

0:07:51.856,0:07:56.064
and educate girls about menstruation[br]in a fun and engaging way.

0:07:56.549,0:07:59.598
To represent girls in their[br]different phases of puberty,

0:07:59.598,0:08:01.151
we had three characters.

0:08:01.633,0:08:04.953
Pinki, who has not gotten her period yet,

0:08:04.953,0:08:08.378
Jiya who gets her period during[br]the narrative of the book,

0:08:08.378,0:08:11.371
and Mira who has already[br]been getting her period.

0:08:11.838,0:08:14.276
There is a fourth character, Priya Didi.

0:08:14.276,0:08:17.830
Through her, girls come to know about[br]the various aspects of growing up

0:08:17.830,0:08:20.059
and menstrual hygiene management.

0:08:20.595,0:08:21.700
While making the book,

0:08:21.700,0:08:22.697
we took great care

0:08:22.697,0:08:26.622
that none of the illustrations[br]were objectionable in any way

0:08:26.622,0:08:29.269
and that it is culturally sensitive.

0:08:29.568,0:08:31.031
During our prototype testing,

0:08:31.031,0:08:33.278
we found that the girls loved the book.

0:08:33.278,0:08:34.782
They were keen on reading it

0:08:34.782,0:08:37.669
and knowing more and more[br]about periods on their own.

0:08:38.292,0:08:41.199
Parents and teachers were[br]comfortable in talking about periods

0:08:41.199,0:08:43.147
to young girls using the book,

0:08:43.147,0:08:46.186
and sometimes even boys were[br]interested in reading it.

0:08:46.186,0:08:47.370
(Laughter)

0:08:47.728,0:08:49.238
(Applause)

0:08:52.232,0:08:55.863
The comic book helped[br]in creating an environment

0:08:55.863,0:08:58.919
where menstruation ceased to be a taboo.

0:08:58.919,0:09:01.096
Many of the volunteers took this prototype

0:09:01.096,0:09:03.154
[and served] to educate girls

0:09:03.154,0:09:07.046
and take menstrual awareness workshops[br]in five different states in India.

0:09:07.046,0:09:08.288
And one of the volunteers

0:09:08.288,0:09:10.469
took this prototype[br]to educate young [monks]

0:09:10.469,0:09:12.744
and took it to this monastery in Ladakh.

0:09:12.744,0:09:14.564
We made the final version of the book,

0:09:14.564,0:09:16.096
called Menstrupedia Comic,

0:09:16.096,0:09:19.140
and launched in September last year.

0:09:19.367,0:09:20.668
And so far,

0:09:20.668,0:09:24.869
more than 4,000 girls have been[br]educated by using the book in India and --

0:09:24.869,0:09:27.330
(Applause)

0:09:27.831,0:09:28.899
Thank you.

0:09:29.400,0:09:30.400
(Applause)

0:09:34.476,0:09:36.380
And 10 different countries.

0:09:37.255,0:09:40.477
We are constantly translating the book[br]into different languages

0:09:40.477,0:09:43.031
and collaborating with local organizations

0:09:43.031,0:09:45.772
to make this book available[br]in different countries.

0:09:45.772,0:09:48.858
15 schools in different parts of India

0:09:48.858,0:09:52.196
have made this book as a part[br]of their school curriculum

0:09:52.196,0:09:54.297
to teach girls about menstruation.

0:09:54.297,0:09:56.573
(Applause)

0:10:00.685,0:10:05.932
I am amazed to see how volunteers,

0:10:05.932,0:10:07.137
individuals,

0:10:07.137,0:10:08.137
parents,

0:10:08.137,0:10:09.206
teachers,

0:10:09.206,0:10:10.405
school principles,

0:10:10.405,0:10:11.822
have come together

0:10:11.822,0:10:15.905
and taken this menstrual awareness[br]drive to their own communities,

0:10:15.905,0:10:19.573
have made sure that the girls[br]learn about periods at the right age,

0:10:19.573,0:10:22.324
and helped in breaking this taboo.

0:10:23.271,0:10:24.687
I dream of a future

0:10:24.687,0:10:27.630
where menstruation is not a curse,

0:10:27.630,0:10:29.171
not a disease,

0:10:29.171,0:10:31.681
but a welcoming change in a girl's life.

0:10:32.371,0:10:33.560
And I would --

0:10:33.560,0:10:35.105
(Applause)

0:10:38.195,0:10:43.048
And I would like to end this with[br]a small request to all the parents here.

0:10:43.476,0:10:45.398
Dear parents,

0:10:45.398,0:10:47.858
if you would be ashamed of periods,

0:10:47.858,0:10:50.164
your daughters would be, too.

0:10:50.164,0:10:52.509
So please be period positive.

0:10:52.855,0:10:53.858
(Laughter)

0:10:53.858,0:10:54.858
Thank you

0:10:54.858,0:10:55.926
(Applause)