A Change

Something had tickled her. Going to watch ‘Padman’ was not her choice after all. Driven by her mad hero- worshipping friend and roommate Ila, Annie was forced into watching. But now having watched it, Annie couldn't help pondering over it. She was a feminist after all. But, how could she not have thought about such problems, still prevalent in our society? It was still considered a taboo in rural areas. Now she felt disgusted at titling herself as a feminist. All through the years she debated and worked for domestic violence, equal pay, safety and things like that. How come she hadn't thought about menstrual hygiene? After all, health is what comes first.

   ‘What happened Ms. Feminist?’, prompted Ila to an engrossed Annie. ‘I ain't a feminist.’ ,replied Annie still engrossed in some thought. ‘Are you drunk Annie? What are you saying?’ said a surprised Ila. ‘I am just fake Ila. I haven't ever tried to look deep into the problem. I never realised the crux of my aim. I am just…’

‘What is worrying you Annie?’ asked a perplexed Ila.

‘I was just thinking about menstrual hygiene. What can we, women, achieve if we don't keep good health?’ And then Annie told her everything about how she had always neglected the topic, despite being a feminist. Ila had clearly understood her situation, her misery. ‘Don't worry, we will hold a workshop on menstrual hygiene in our Women's Development Cell.’,she said in a comforting tone.

  Ila and Annie were both second year students at LSR College. Annie was pursuing Sociology while Ila was doing Psychology. Both of them were core team members of Women's Development Cell of their college. They shared the same room and thoughts as well to some extent. Annie was a hard core feminist. It was her passion to work for women. She always wanted to work for their upliftment. Ila, on the other hand, wasn't a feminist but was curious to learn about female psychology. She wanted to see women from a different perspective. Since her mother's death in 2005, she was the only female member of the house with a grandfather, dad and two elder brothers. This was also one of her main reasons for joining a girls college.

 The idea of organizing a workshop wasn't bad. They contacted their coordinator for calling upon a guest speaker for the event. There they would teach about proper usage, benefits and disposal of pads. The coordinator found it interesting and the event was fixed. Ila and Annie were both happy. Yes! At least they had taken some step in that direction. They worked very hard to make the event successful. The event then took place on the stipulated day. It was a success. Students from many colleges had participated. The event was even highlighted in the next day’s newspaper. Ila was really happy. Yes! She got to interact with so many girls. It was fun. But to Annie something was still missing. Something was still troubling her. She was not that happy with the event. After all, what good this did to rural women? Young college girls were already aware of this. It was just like an add-on session for them. It was 2:00 am in the morning. She looked at Ila sleeping peacefully. But it was hard to come by for her. She was doodling on her notebook when a message popped on her phone. Instead of the message her eyes were fixed on something else. The date was 26 April. Exams were coming nearer.

 After a month of hectic schedule exams were over. The college now seemed quiet. Unlike the usual days, there was no hustle bustle of students. The sounds of birds chirping could be heard clearly. At the corner of the amphitheater, Ila and Annie were sitting staring at the walls, feeling miserable. They had failed to get summer internship with some reputed organization. Sitting lonely they were planning what to do next. ‘I think we should go back home. Now, we are just rotting up here.’ said Ila breaking the silence of the surroundings. ‘ I wanted to do internship with “Beti Bachao”. It is such a good organization. And you know what, Satakshi was teasing me, making me feel jealous by posting her pictures. I wanted that.’ said a frustrated Annie. ‘ I don't want to go home.’

   Sitting in the room and having nothing to do, Annie opened her laptop and started watching ‘Padman’ again which was now available on YouTube. As she watched the movie, something startled her. An idea came up to her mind. She researched all through the internet and came up with a list of five most backward villages of India. In the midst of night, she woke up Ila, desperate to tell her about the idea. ‘Why are you shining like a bright star in the midnight? Are you mad?’ said a half-conscious Ila. But soon Ila was all awake. Annie told her about her idea of setting up awareness camps in country’s most backward villages regarding menstrual hygiene. They could make them conscious about their health. Also they would be able to utilize their time for a good cause. Ila could not get her point at the moment. Annie had told her so many things in just ten minutes, over excitedly. ‘ I need time to think.’ replied Ila seriously.

A day later, Ila confronted Annie about the matter. ‘ Annie, I spent some time thinking about the matter. But..’, she paused. ‘ I don't think it is a good idea. Just two of us can't do anything. It is a huge issue.’ ‘ We’ll take one village at a time, Ila. We aren't sure but at least we can try.’ She tried to convince Ila. But Ila wasn't even interested. She simply disregarded, calling it a foolish thing. But Annie was adamant at it. Finally she had something to do. Moreover she wanted to do it by putting in her heart. ‘ I am going home tomorrow Annie. I can't do this.’ said Ila finally rejecting her proposal. ‘ Ok fine. Go. Go home. I will do this. Alone. I don't need you.’ said a disgruntled Annie. She always got to her nerve when someone said no to any sort of feminist work. And she hadn't expected this from Ila, at least. But Ila didn't even bother to give it a second thought. She packed her luggage and departed for her home in Kanpur.

    One week had passed since the idea struck Annie. She had selected a village near Gurgaon and even went there but it was hardly any fruitful. Ila was right. She couldn't make such a huge impact alone. She felt a little frustrated at the failure to govern things. It was not going her way after all. How could she do the whole work alone? She jotted down some things that she needed to do. She needed collaborations with some big organization to create a bigger impact, for funding and a lot many things. But she had to do it anyhow. Just as she was wondering what would be her course of action, somebody knocked on the door. It was Ila. She came as a shock for her. ‘Ila!’, shouted Annie astonishingly. ‘Why did you come back?’. Ila’s fingers were growing cold at the question. She didn't speak anything at the moment and quietly entered the room. ‘First, I need water.’

    Few moments later Annie grew more curious to know the reason for her sudden unexpected arrival. As Ila calmed down, she began narrating the whole story. ‘A shocking revelation urged me to come back. You know Annie, back home I was fidgeting with my old toys in the storeroom when I got something… Something I was unaware of, something I didn't bother about. I saw my late mother's medical reports.’ ‘Annie!’, she hugged her tightly and tears started falling off her eyes. ‘She died of cervical cancer.’ Annie felt numb at her feet. She couldn't imagine what was happening. For the very first time, she had seen Ila reminiscing her mother. For the first time, she had felt the pain. ‘What? How come? Any particular reason?’, she said in a perplexed voice. ‘ I confronted my dad regarding this. He told me that till I was two years old, they used to live in our village. Then they shifted to Kanpur. But soon she was detected with cervical cancer. The doctor said that the probable reason for this might be the unhygienic conditions in our village. Now it's a developed village. But back then, there were hardly any sanitary facilities. They used to defecate in open and then… We lost her.’ Ila broke down completely as she finished the last sentence. After sometime she gathered some courage and spoke, ‘ Annie now you are not alone. I am with you. I feel ashamed of myself for neglecting the topic. How could I? Now I will do every little thing that can bring a change. Annie couldn't control her emotions at the moment. On one hand, she was getting the much required support.On the other hand, she was unable to come to any outcome. She couldn't decide any future course of action. ‘ I am messed up Ila.’, she said miserably. ‘I don't know from where to start. Everything is just going haywire.’ ‘Just calm down Annie. We’ll see what can we do.’she said consoling her. ‘We need collaborations Ila. But… but who will collaborate for such a tiny, small scale venture.’ she said disheartened. ‘Scale does not matter Annie, as long as your aim is big.’ she said encouragingly.

 Ila got completely confused by Annie’s words. Their next step was uncertain. But she was determined to do it, anyhow. She wouldn't let women lose their lives as her mother. Seeing Annie’s failed attempts, she decided to take the rope in her own hands. ‘Who can we collaborate with? Or rather who must be willing to join hands with us?’ she questioned herself.

 After 22 hours of brainstorming, Ila finally got something practical. ‘Only one who can benefit from us, would be willing.’ She quickly searched and drew up a list of prosper but backward villages. Prosper in wealth, backward in thoughts. Here, using pads was still considered a taboo, and there wasn't any support for such things from the Gram Panchayat. She quickly shared her idea with Annie. ‘Impressive! I never thought that you could come up with such an idea. ‘ said Annie. Ila gave a faded smile and said, ‘You will definitely get the solution if you are a sufferer at any point of time.’

 They sent emails to all the sanitary pad manufacturing companies describing their awareness program. Their idea was to set up a camp in Manauri village in Haryana where there was very less consumption of sanitary pads. There they would promote their cause by encouraging people to buy the product of that particular company. This way both the parties would benefit.

Ten days later, they received a call from a company named Go Girls which was ready to fund their cause. It was the happiest moment of their life. They would finally pursue their desires. Manauri was well-connected with train route. There was a direct train from Old Delhi Railway Station to Manauri. For about three weeks they discussed the entire plan with Go Girls officials. It would be a fifteen days program spread over different localities of the village. They would give a presentation depicting various problems which occur due to bad hygiene, how to use a pad and most importantly why to use a pad. At the end of the program, they would hold some sort of games in which they would distribute pads as prizes.

    As soon as they arrived, they settled their luggage into a guest house and geared up for the first event they were to take up. They set up their camp in a large ground. Some people passed by the ground but hardly anyone paid attention. Two hours flew away without any progress. Annie then in consultation with the team decided to send out a man spreading the message all over the village that a medical camp has been setup.

    Not much time had passed, a huge crowd gathered on the ground. But people were shocked to see that there wasn't any doctor. Instead two young women were sitting with a projector lying beside. People started wondering what would happen next. What were they going to do? Annie held a mic and started settling the crowd. ‘Hello.’, she began. ‘I am Annie and I am not a doctor. I am basically a sociology student and I am here to talk about menstruation.’ There was a sudden awkward silence in the crowd. People turned mum. Annie felt a little hesitant but then somehow gathered courage and spoke, ‘Okay, now please answer seriously. How many of you use sanitary pads? The silence remained as it is. ‘Please don't hesitate.’, she emphasized. For a few seconds, there wasn't any response. Then, a school girl around sixteen years in age rose her hand up. A bright smile caught Annie’s face. She brought the girl forward and asked her to tell why it is important to use pads. She handed the mic to her. ‘I… I’, her voice trembled. Annie encouraged her to speak. ‘I use pads because it is very absorbent and hygienic. Using cloth is unhygienic.’

Annie, Ila and rest of the team burst out with applause. The village crowd now started gaining confidence. Annie then gave her presentation. With a heavy heart, Ila shared her own story. She literally wept while narrating the whole incident. It was a true eye-opener. She said that it is equally important for men to understand it. Many husbands and fathers shook their heads in shame.

    In the next few days, more people started coming up. Annie and Ila had become famous in the village by then. More people started coming up. The result was before their eyes. It was a success.

There was a huge sale of pads during the course of time. On the last day of their campaign, they organized some games at the end of which they distributed free pads. Yes, they had done it.

   Three years had passed since they took the initiative. After that there was no looking back. They had stayed dedicated to their mission. Their alliance with Go Girls had strengthened. Many such villages had been reformed this way. They were now traveling to Manauri for the opening of a new factory by Go Girls. The sale had increased so much. The entire village had gathered to see them. Go Girls Director Stuti Kriplani started the machine for the first time and gifted them the first made packet wrapped in a brown sheet. It was the best day of their lives. They were delighted. More than that, they were satisfied.

    They looked at each other and grinned. As the train moved past the quaint village, they knew they had finally made it. There was an eerie silence blowing through the entire coach whose sole occupants were the two silent passengers and the one brown package placed carefully between them. Annie leaned back on the seat and closed her eyes with a silent smile resting upon her lips while Ila watched her closely as her heart raced frantically.

  ‘Efforts paid.’, heaved Ila. ‘ I think more than our efforts, it was your story which accomplished our mission. Sometimes, it is our fear which drives our actions. Fear to lose our loved ones.’, said Annie

‘I guess so.’, replied Ila.