ENCOVETEC OVET SUUU Cupnemisims fOr menstruation. What-makes it so hard to talk about this completely natural phenomenon? Here is what people say. TEAM METRO You'll either dismiss the idea completely or go all out to celebrate it. Because it's dificult tobe non-committal. With media giant Mathrub ‘humi introducing a menstrual leave policy last week, menstruation has ‘made its way from social media campaigns and poetry writing te HR policies. “Though we have named it First day Of Period, ot FOP leave, Itisn't restricted to the frst day. Its 12 days’ optional paid leave in ad dition toa woman employee's usual entitlements. You can take itany y of your period, or not take it at all” says Devieena $ Majumder, who heads human resources at Culture Machine, the Mumbai-besed fnline content company that was one of the first to introduce the policy. Triggered by a conversation among some employees about ‘menstrual pain and discomfort, the company felt they could go the ex tra mile. “Al our policies are equal, but we elt this reason for taking leave was legitimate enough to be recognised. We are lucky to have ‘ale employees who are al vocally supportive of it,” says Majumder. So before we jump to any conclusions about this policy ~ whieh Japan, hs been fine with sinee 1947, but Ialy stil seems to be struggling with lets look at what we really know. Speaking out ‘Padma Lakshmi, actor, model, autor, and co {founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of ‘America, shares her journey with period pain, ‘endometriosis wasn't diagnosed until was 36 years old. Endometriosis forms during a girs reproduct. ivedevelopment, part and parcel with her wo- manhood. My mother told me growing up that ‘some women experience more pain than oth- ers, and that this was just our lot in life. But [felt something was different about my period when I first went off to college and ‘aw the difference in time taken by my room- ‘mates and friends to recover after getting their periods. The pain from my own period took much longer to get over — Iwas out fora Courtesy Menstrupedia, guide to ey ‘week each month, while they seemed to I tried it, bounce back in just few days. After my dia- ‘what Lused for gnosis, I worked with my surgeon, Dr ‘These women used products Femme and liked ‘Tamer Seckin, to co-found the Endomet: other than traditional sanitary ‘more connected riosis Foundation of America. I didn’ pads,and share their experiences thetic pads elt pl want others to suffer in silence unneces: ‘start t0ltch, espe sarily. l'sa very isolating disease that has Banana fibre pads mer months a lot of emotional ramifications as well. ‘Supriya R, lawyer, Chennai and never leaks. ‘Together, we've helped educate over Tread about the Saathi banana‘fibre variations, you ca 16,000 young people about this devastat- ada while ago, and because Ibelieve spotting days to ing disease in NYC area schools. We also that we can’t create andfllsoaded flow. The best pat helped launch a research centre at MIT ‘with sanitary napkins, Iwas eager to what I did, from 4] jn 2008. tty it Once they launched, ! bought co We all have mothers, sisters and friends, and it's been s0 inspiring to hhave children come up tous at our edu several boxes and gave them to family and friends to use! These 100% biode- ‘gradable pads are comfortable, canbe Cups ‘cational seminars and say that they recog Used on the heaviest days and ast Sonal Jain, Directo nse the symptoms in someone they know, upto 6 hours for me. I would recom- Asa person with. and encourage them to help others to get ‘mend though that the company con: lot, Love the cup: proper diagnosis. But some of the symptoms sider making one variant litle One, Thave 0 ‘could also be PCOS or polycystic ovarian syn- ‘drome. In short, never take your health for grany ted. Its no fun at all to go to the gynaecologist, and no one wants to talk about their periods. Its longer. Otherwise, Ihave permanently much fewer times switched to this, asthe capacity of Saathi, 2178 for a pack Gt can easily hol ‘of XL with wings. cramps reduce be ‘uncomfortable at best, but we need to start created by the ses sharing the information in a candid and loth pads forget Iam ona thoughtful way to prevent the next generation 2 Sruti Harihara Subramanian, film isno dryness, ita cof women and young girls from going through maker and entrepreneur ‘caused by pads. ‘hat! went through, We owe it to them. 3 About 4 years ago, when Iwascon- doubt of leakage. y sciously shifting to a sustainable Tsnceze, there i Mestyle, 1 felt the need to change Panties.