Arunachalam

Muruganantham
THE MAN WHO PUT ON THE PAD
Mohammad Akib Nawaz | Ethics and Leadership | 26 th October, 2016

Prepared for
Mrs. Sutapa Bhattacharjee

Assistant Professor
Institute of Business Administrations,
University of Dhaka
Prepared by
Mohammad Akib Nawaz
BBA, 23rd Batch
Section A
Roll No. ZR 12
For the Course of Ethics and Leadership

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Introduction
Allow me to introduce you to a man, who grabbed poverty by the throat and did his
best to wrestle it, and to this day, hasnt given up. His achievements and contributions
to Rural India and its poor hard working women, are as mesmerizing and enthralling
as is the pronunciation of his name: Arunachalam Muruganantham.
In his public speeches, TED talks, and University guest lectures he describes his story
with such originality and sheer grass-root-level emotions that even the most random
of strangers will find it hard to not feel an unparalleled sense of respect towards this
man. A form of respect I last felt when I first read about Mother Teresa.
As a matter of fact, one such random social media video is all it took to make me
want to write my leadership essay on him.
My report will be divided into sections, which will clearly describe his life, his work,
and his vision. At the end, I will talk about why, from my point of view, he displayed
leadership skills, and why they are remarkable.
The Story Behind his life changing Idea
Arunachalam Muruganantham is the son of a poor handloom weaver in Camboitre,
South India. After his marriage to Shanti, his wife, he one day realised that she was
using old rags to deal with menstruation. After inquiring about the secretive and
sensitive issue, he got to know that she couldnt afford sanitary pads, and as such had
no other option. Muruganantham was shocked. But he also saw a chance to impress
her. He decided to produce her sanitary pads himself. At first it seemed like a simple
task: he bought a roll of cotton wool and cut it into pieces, the same size as the pads
sold in the shops, and then wrapped a thin layer of cotton around it. He presented this
homemade prototype pad to his wife and asked her to test it. The feedback she gave
him was devastating: his pad was useless and she would rather continue using old
rags.
Where did he go wrong? What was the difference between his sanitary pads and those
available at the shop? Muruganantham started experimenting with different materials,
but was faced with another problem: he always had to wait a month before his wife
could test each new prototype. Muruganantham needed volunteers and had an idea
where he might find them. He asked medical students at a university close to his
village. Some of them actually tested his pads but they were too shy to give him
detailed feedback. In an interview, he explained how he was shocked that even female
doctors of the future were too shy to talk about menstrual hygiene with him. Left with
no alternative, he decided to test the sanitary pads himself. He built a uterus using a
rubber bladder, filled it with goats blood and fixed it to his hip. Yes, you read that
right, He literally walked around with a blood bag, and wore his sanitary pads all day
to test them. A tube led from the artificial uterus to the sanitary pad in his underpants.
By pressing the bladder, he simulated the menstrual flow.

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Sadly, most of his efforts didnt pay off the first time around. The pad leaked blood
and he regularly soiled his clothes. Neighbors and superstitious peers started to think
that either he had a very nasty perverse fetish for blood, or he was possessed by
demons, or even worse, he had medical issues.
And it was during this time, that his wife filed for divorce and left him high and dry,
for not being able to stand the jeers from people they lived with the and social stigma
surrounding him. The bitter irony burned through my mind when I first read his story.
He knew he couldnt give up. He was too close to finding the right blend of materials
to soak up that flow. By this time, his vision grew and he wasnt just trying to find a
solution for his wife, but for women all across India who couldnt afford hygienic
menstrual pads.
His Big Break:
It was two years before he found the right kind of material, and then he took his idea
to the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras and asked students there to help him
find a way to make these pads in an efficient, simple manner, without having to buy
machinery costing upwards of $500000 USD. Although, there is a well-developed
sanitary napkin industry in India, with major players such as Proctor & Gamble, and
Johnsons & Johnsons, these sanitary napkins are often unaffordable to the millions of
Indian women living in low-income and under-privileged communities. This is
primarily due to the cost of the sanitary napkins resulting from the use of expensive
machinery and huge profit margins by these brand name companies.

The students entered his idea in a competition where his project won out of over 600
entries. All his efforts finally bore fruit. He was given patent rights to his new method,
and his new invention. He made it available for distribution anywhere in India for
only 75000 INR.
The Business Model and Vision
Using this method, he founded Jayashree Industries where he is employing hundreds
of women all around India in making these pads. Their company website has a short
business model which reads as such:
We sell our machines directly to rural women through the support of bank loans and
not-for-profit organisations. A machine operator can learn the entire sanitary-napkin
making process in three hours and then employ three others to help with processing
and distribution. In addition, the technology we use to manufacture the napkin is
simple and non-chemical. In fact, the machine uses purely mechanical processes such
as grinding and de-fibration, pressing and sealing to convert the raw material highquality pine wood pulp into a napkin. Contrary to a large-scale production model
which requires Rs.3.5 crores as initial investment our sanitary napkin-making
machine can be made available to a buyer for approximately Rs.75,000. Our model

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encourages women to participate in complete product life-cycles, not only as users,

but also as technology designers, manufacturers, and marketing persons. Further,
these women are the owners of their business. We thus aim to build a viable and
sustainable enterprise that can be run efficiently by the stakeholders themselves at the
grassroots.
We are nearing the end of our story of Mr Muruganantham, and it is at this point
where I want to put in my own views.
Why I think he is a true Leader:
You see, menstruation, female hygiene, and anything border-lining those issues, are
seen as taboo and are sensitive to most rural communities, in our subcontinent. But
this man ventured into this territory. He did not entirely know what he would face, but
he still went for it, and pursued his vision. These life goals are not things which us
humans dream of as little children. These goals come to us, through struggle, and
poverty. Muraganantham wanted to change the stigma, and improve female health. He
wanted women to have access to safe and affordable means of dealing with their
problems instead of having to shy away from family and society for five to seven days
a month. He wanted the men in their lives to be as involved in this issue as the women
are. Because only through mutual respect and understanding can the whole taboo be
eradicated. It is appalling to know that only 10% of the population actually use
sanitary napkins, Muruganantham wants to take it all the way and make sure every
woman has their right to safe menstrual practices.
He not only researched the material for the product, but even tested it on himself. He
did not just employ other people to do the survey, or even to make his inventions
come to life. He researched and studied and invented his own way to make the pads as
well. He later on went ahead and founded his own company which now distributes
pads all over India in the remotest of areas even. He sells his machine, not to MNCs
but to women in need. It is his belief that not only can we eradicate stigma, but we can
also employ women and make sure they have a worthwhile living by making these
pads and selling them.
In my opinion, a leader is one who fears none, and relies on none. Who believes in his
goals and in himself. And most importantly, a person who stops at nothing until his
mission is complete.
Today Arunachalam Muruganatham has paved the for women all across India. He has
shown them a better light, and given them hope for a better tomorrow. He is taking his
vision everywhere, and the likes of Bill Gates have his back, and is investing in his
idea and work.
Lastly, a poor mans son, who had to drop out of school, showed that in real life,
leadership is not taught only in the classrooms, it is taught in the real world. Every

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step of the way, he had to adapt, and learn how to overcome the challenges that came
his way. He led India, to a path of openness and respect for menstrual hygiene.
Times Magazine put him in the 100 Most Influential Peoples List in 2014. He is
listed under the Pioneers Section. I strongly believe though, that he should have his
own sub category:
Humanities.

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