Be Period Positive. Period!
“Your haemoglobin
levels are at 5.8! How are you even walking?” The doctor looked at me as though
I was a specimen under a microscope, which I probably was, given that the normal
Hb levels for a human being range from 9 to 14, or so.
I had to wax eloquent on my
menstrual history from when I was eleven, and when mom told me all about periods and
what I would have to expect. Of course, the deluge started at a time when I
least expected it, when I was travelling by train with a rather conservative
uncle and aunt. The result was downright embarrassing, and I got out,
red-faced, and unwilling to ever talk about it. Till now!
Those were the days when
women were expected to be Carefree without Whisper. When friends around doubled over with cramps and moaned that their
world was coming to an end, I waltzed about, wondering what all the fuss was
about. Mom had definite views on everything in life, including pain management.
(She still does! Ask anyone who knows her!) Her stock response to every kind of
ache was, “It’s all in the mind. Get over it!”
So, as children, my sisters and I grew up without a thermometer in the house. We popped no pills and played riotously in the sunshine for our share of Vitamin D. Colds, fevers and stomach upsets vanished because they were ignored. After my initiation into the menstrual cycle, I decided to explain it all to my younger sister, who is seven years younger than me. To date, she tells me that I did a masterly job of it.
However, criminal as
it may sound, we both forgot that there was a littler one, our youngest sister,
who was ten years younger than me. I had moved into college and was on the verge
of getting married. My second sister was busy with school, examinations, peer
pressure and stuff like that. Hence, the valuable lode of information that
should have been passed down stayed within our minds. Till the day the little
one came rushing in, as pale as pale could be, exclaiming, “I think I am going
to die. So much blood!”
We never forgave ourselves
for the lapse, and the little one kept
reminding us every month. “It’s here again!”
Years went by, I ‘Whispered’
through life, had an adorable baby girl, and when she was around seven, the bubble
burst. My periods which had been painless and bearable till then, suddenly
began showing their true colours. They would continue for fifteen days,
sometimes longer, and it was then that I realized that like in the case of all families,
I too had been handed down my share of heirlooms. Fibroids. Around three of
them! When I dug around in the annals of our menstrual history, I found that every
generation had had its share of fibroids, starting with my grand aunts, grandmother, mother
and now me and my daughter too.
As an Army wife, we
had just been posted to Ambala and were staying in a room in the Officers’
Mess. When I look back, those were bloody days, as I bled, changed, washed
sheets, and then the whole cycle would begin again. My Hb levels dipped, and that
is when the doctor called me a walking miracle and ordered a blood transfusion.
Those were the days when O+ blood was considered a universal donor and my
husband cheerfully lent me some of his blood, to add on to B+, an axiom I have
always followed in life. (Be positive!)
It was now
hysterectomy time. I was in my mid-30s and it was time to bid adieu to my periods.
There were gory tales about how I would react after my uterus had been removed.
Maybe you will sprout a beard, said one well-meaning uncle; oh, you will put on
weight for sure, said a svelte cousin. Mood swings, hysterics, hormonal issues
and terrible times ahead… the future looked rather bleak.
Of course, Mom swept
in with her irrepressible logic. She looked at me with a gimlet glint in her
eye and said, “Stop listening to all those rays of sunshine! This is not the
end of the world. Take it in your stride. It’s all in your mind.”
Those words rang
true, my hysterectomy was done, and I rested till I healed. Neither did I sprout
a beard, nor did I have mood swings. A little weight just meant that there was
more of me to love. I did not miss having periods… in fact, I rejoiced at not
having to shell out exorbitant sums of money on sanitary pads anymore. And what
was more, my sense of humour, another family heirloom, was still intact!
Several myths have been built up around this simple biological function called menstruation. Even today, in many households, women are not allowed to be in the kitchen and visit temples because of the mistaken notion that they are ‘unclean’ during those days. How many of us realise that in days of yore, it was maybe because women needed a rest when they had their periods. Hence, they were given a break from cooking and related home chores.
The movie Padman revolved around the story of Arunachalam Muruganatham, a pioneer who resolved the hygiene issues of rural women by creating a low-cost sanitary pad. A simple man and a school dropout, he had the sensitivity to understand the problems of menstruation and strove to do something about it.
It is time that we did away with the taboos connected with menstruation, and ensured that every girl is taught about the biological processes that turn her from child to adult. Mothers, of course, are the best teachers, in this regard, and they can choose to make the said process an ordeal or a norm for their daughters. Barring this, schools also need to teach menstruation as a subject so that students grow aware of its significance.
In a nutshell, be Period Positive. Period!
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