A decked up table with colourful sanitary pads and a
chart saying “Aao kare Mahvari se yaari” & “Aoo apne pad banaye” was set up
under a tree. It was the much awaited “dashamata ki Mela” in Jhadol and what
better opportunity could we have got than this to carry on with our venture of
“Whispering” out loud the word Mahvari. This is one of the biggest “Melas” in
Jhadol district, which attracts more than seven thousand foot falls every year.
We are already pursuing our project on menstrual health & hygiene in schools,
but the purpose of setting up a stall in a “Mela” was to reach out to people of
all ages and educate them about the necessary things which are needed to be
maintained during periods. At the same time to promote the usage of cotton pads
made of clothes which are very easy to make at home. For this we had put up
demo sessions on how to make these pads and simultaneously made them available
to people who wished to buy them. Two other stalls of games and one of “Bhaji” was
also set up along with this so that we can allure some of the customers to fulfil
out motive.
The day started with perplexed eyes and stealing glances.
As expected, people were more than reluctant to visit our stall. No amount of
convincing, preaching or even coaxing could get a single person on the other
side of the table. At one point of time we had to literally hijack people and
pull them to make them listen to us. Highly scandalized people ran for their
lives. However, as the day unfolded more and more people poured into the “Mela”
and finally speculative minds gathered around the table of which most were men.
Talking about menstruation to people is not easy that too when they don’t even
understand the proper Hindi terms. This was the very first time somebody was
discussing about periods with them that too in the public. People in this area
are not at all used to the terms of “Mahvari” or “Pads”, having to break them
up and explain it in simpler words were quite a tedious task. Still, what
restored back our dedication was their keen attention and the appreciations made
by a handful of people. We tried to bring awareness by incessantly repeating to
dry any kind of cotton pad or cloth in the sun and not somewhere hidden for
that is a major cause attracting germs. It is very important that men started
encouraging the female members of their family to dry the napkins under the
sunlight. Since, it is because them the ladies shy away from drying the pads
outside.
There was a time when we decided to sing to the
rhythm of a “dafli” saying “Ake to dekho” since there were hardly any person
willing to come near our stall. Gradually, even women (mostly from the affluent
background) started coming in and agreeing to our information about infections
due to unhygienic practices, they shared about their plight as well. We focused
on conveying our message and looked forward to questions and discussions. Most
of the “adivasi” women were too shy to even utter the word, they patiently
listened to us speaking but. The news spread like wildfire and more and
more enthusiastic faces turned up at our stall. Our initiative, started
mounting the summit when more of young women and teenagers stood instigated by
us and displayed the urge to know more. Although,
the colourful pads had a magnetic affect on this, but still our purpose was
meted out as people went back with an affirmative nod.
This was our first initiative, which has made us realize
how much potential a “Mela” has in attracting the rural population. As the “Mela”
stepped into its last phase, we thought it wise to wrap up as no one left
energy any more. What we needed was some fun & frolic in this very “Mela”
to rejuvenate ourselves; hence we got done for the day and headed for the
rides. The most surprising thing was a woman had come looking for us to buy
pads while we were away enjoying rides. Fortunately, one of our members was
present at that moment over there. At the end of the day we managed to sell around
thirty five pads and only “10 rupay ka bhaji” and touched around a thousand people
if not more, who visited our stall. This
certainly determines that we have definitely left behind a trail for a better
and safer menstruation in a place where it was much needed.
PS: "Mahvari se Yaari" would like to thank Anurag, Nishita, Ragini, Jibin and Abhilash for their unending support and hard work in making this "mela" venture a success.
