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Saturday, April 1, 2017
#AtoZ :Inspiring Indian Women: Aditi Gupta : Menstrupedia: The wikipedia on growing up
Aditi Gupta has decided to educate people about a subject that is often considered taboo and embarrassing
Why Aditi Gupta is an inspiration?
For her blog and initiative : https://www.menstrupedia.com/
She thus took up a year-long project on menstrual awareness. This research project laid the grounds for Menstrupedia. “We get one lakh visitors every month on the website. More than 1,000 girls have been educated using Menstrupedia comics,” says a proud Aditi.
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| Aditi Gupta |
Why Aditi Gupta is an inspiration?
For her blog and initiative : https://www.menstrupedia.com/
A woman’s menstrual cycle is so
enshrouded in taboo in India that even some girls who have been brought
up in open-minded, modern, educated households in our country are forced
to follow or obey at least a couple of nonsensical, superstitious
beliefs.
Luckily, Aditi Gupta, the
founder of Menstrupedia has decided to “touch the pickle” and educate
people about a subject that is often considered taboo and embarrassing,
through her website Menstrupedia. It is very inspiring to see a girl
from a conservative, middle-class family hailing from Garhwa, a small
town in Jharkhand, educate the society on menstrual health and hygiene.
The
blog is a completely collaborative space where people from all walks of
life write and share their stories and experiences on menstruation and
issues related to it. Menstrupedia depicts each and every topic with a
relevant illustration.
Aditi was 11
when her mother explained to her about a girl’s menstrual cycle. This
was during a painful period of her life, as she reveals, “At the age of
11, I met with a serious accident and was totally bed ridden for months.
My mother would fix a narrow pipe to my urinary tract to help me
urinate. One day while fixing the pipe my mother saw some traces of
blood in my vagina, which was actually due to a minor cut, received
earlier while fixing the pipe. She thought I had started my periods and
she told me about periods for the first time.”
A
year later, when she actually got hers, she was made aware of the
thousands dos and don’ts a girl is saddled with during this time. “I
wasn’t allowed to sit on others’ beds. I wasn’t allowed to touch the
place of worship. I had to wash and dry my clothes separately. I wasn’t
allowed to eat or touch pickle... In short, I was treated as impure or
polluted.”
If these rules were bad,
the mindset of not buying sanitary napkins was worse. Aditi’s family
thought nothing could be worse than being seen buying pads in a store!
Fortunately this changed when she was sent to boarding school.
When
she enrolled in a post graduation course at NID, two great things
happened. First, she met her future husband Tuhin and second, with his
support, the idea to start Menstrupedia was born. Normally most men find
the subject gross, but Tuhin was different. After seeing and learning
about the various inconveniences his girlfriend went through, he started
educating himself.
“Tuhin told me
many things that I myself did not know about periods. It occurred to us
that if there are so many essentials about menstruation that are unknown
to me even after having periods for the past several years, in spite of
being educated, there must be millions ignorant about menstrual
management.”
She thus took up a year-long project on menstrual awareness. This research project laid the grounds for Menstrupedia. “We get one lakh visitors every month on the website. More than 1,000 girls have been educated using Menstrupedia comics,” says a proud Aditi.
How
did her family react to her decision to dedicate her life to educating
people about menstruation? “My family is super supportive of our work
and it’s my parents who have made me capable of taking up such
endeavors.”
Her family and friends
may have been supportive, but what about others? Which are proving to be
the toughest myths to break? “We have signboards outside temples
denying the entry to menstruating women. The myths are very deep rooted.
It’s discrimination at the very core. Fighting the social stigma around
the subject is the toughest.”
Fortunately,
there are many joining her cause as the website is funded mainly
through crowd funding. The couple has also partnered with Whisper, a
sanitary napkin brand. Her cause takes up most of her time, so does she
have any other interests? “Apart from obsessively working on
Menstrupedia, I also do craft work. I make crafts out of household waste
and put up the tutorials online. I love swimming too.”
References:
http://www.womensweb.in/articles/aditi-gupta-menstrupedia/
https://yourstory.com/2014/11/aditi-gupta-menstrupedia/
https://www.facebook.com/Menstrupedia/
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/150103/commentary-sunday-chronicle/article/lady-doth-protest-period
http://www.thealternative.in/lifestyle/menstrupedia-the-wikipedia-on-growing-up/
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