Lets talk. Period.

How do I start? Let me start from the start. As a girl steps into womanhood, life changes in many ways. For me, there were many changes that irritated me and the least of the bothers was physical discomfort. I was not allowed to play as much as before and playing with boys was severely restricted. For someone who grew up playing mostly with boys, this was a big change for me. And then, I was not prepared psychologically for this normal and healthy aspect of life!

I had only heard murmurs and whispered gossips. In 'those' days, there were even family functions held to mark the 'event'. When asked about these functions, I was told it was her 13th birthday or 14th birthday or something similar. I just couldn't understand why someone would want to suddenly invite so many friends and relatives for a birthday party! Maybe it was the beginning of women being seen as objects! Needless to say, there was a big fight on this issue. I couldn't think of calling everyone home for something so private. No amount of Dairy Milk chocolates, interesting books and pretty dresses would convince me to have a 'birthday party'. Yet, my family did some puja and invited people home. I was fighting and crying the whole day :(

For a long time, I silently suffered physical discomfort and pain - everyone has to, there is no choice! I comforted myself by saying maybe this is nature's way of preparing women for childbirth and other hardship. I even took tablets on a couple of occasions, against my principles.  I missed a major portion of my swimming classes. I missed many outings. I painfully realized I was a girl!
For getting rid of the physical pain, my mother read somewhere about a simple home remedy of eating pomegranate - and it works like magic! 

Some things changed over a period of time through exposure from various media including one of my favourite TV Shows -  Blossom (the smart protagonist was played by Mayim Bialik who has played the role of Amy in The Big Bang Theory, where she is intolerable actually). In one of the earliest episodes of Blossom, there is a reference to her first period and things are weird. Not having her mother close to her makes it even more uncomfortable. She talks to her granny and the granny says that in her youth, people were made to stay far away from home! I realized that all cultures must have evolved in the same way!

For many years, I had fights and arguments with my mother about taking a head bath at whatever odd time of the day, in the name of hygiene. What has hair got to do with menstrual hygiene? At one point, I even wanted to cut my hair real short. And then, I hated washing those soiled clothes and dry them where no one could see - as if I had created some crime. I was not allowed to do much work at home because I was not supposed to touch clothes or items in the kitchen. I was not allowed to go to temples or participate in religious activities. Not having to do household work and the religious restrictions are the only things I liked ;)
By the way, Goonj, an organization striving to address the basic need of clothing has been providing, through its ‘Not Just a Piece of Cloth’ initiative, a much needed physical product and also spreading awareness on this taboo subject.

Things have changed a lot now, however, it has its disadvantages too. Now that I have switched to reusable cloth and cloth pads, I can safely argue against the huge marketing of use-and-throw plastic napkins. In fact, in one episode of Big Bang Theory, Sheldon tries to reason to Penny as to how she could save money by buying in bulk! A better alternative would be stop using use-and-throw pads altogether and switch to either a menstrual cup or reusable cloth pads.

Well designed product in a well designed package

Menstrual cups are supposed to be very comfortable, but I have not been able to get used to them. Mounting ethical and environmental concerns made me switch to the traditional cloth. My aunt who works in an Anganwadi introduced me to bandage cloth - she was introduced to it as part of her work. The Government is actually doing good work, but we fail to acknowledge it. 

The switch wasn't smooth and easy. It took months to unlearn the bad habit of many years :(
For a few months, I gave the pads in a separate bag to the BBMP waste pickers. For a few months, I tried burning the plastic pads near my place - I knew it was wrong, but I wasn't strong enough to make the switch. I started using cloth when at home. When I went to Munsiari, I told myself - enough is enough. I do not want to spoil the beautiful Himalaya and decided to use cloth always even if it was going to be uncomfortable or clumsy.
As they say, "You cannot cross a chasm in 2 small steps." Once I made this decision, I felt free.

Water-proof travel pouch

Back in Bangalore, I was tested once. I was under stress and my dates got messed up and I wasn't prepared. I was in the heart of the city and I had to make a choice. I am glad I went to the nearest Khadi Bhandar and bought cotton hankies to serve as pads instead of buying the plastic ones at a medical store. I passed the test :)

About 8 months ago, I got introduced to Eco-Femme and their very practical and very well designed travel pouch to carry soiled pads. I wash them, dry them and reuse them.

After discovering that urine was a good fertilizer for plants, the next thing in line had to be menstrual blood. I guessed that Blood, being synonymous with life, might be good to use it for plants. Many people store umbilical cord blood for treating over 80 illnesses as it is a rich source of stem cells. So something that is capable of giving life must be naturally good for plants. Just as I was thinking along these lines, I had a conversation with Shamala and she said she had already been using the wash water for plants! So, that is exactly what I do these days. I identify the weakest plant in the garden and nourish it with water used to clean used pads.

It has been over an year since I switched to reusable cloth and pads and ever since, I am having happy, guilt-free periods.

Washed and sun dried

I want to thank 4 beautiful ladies for being my inspiration.
My aunt for providing me the option of cloth, Sejal for introducing me to menstrual cups, Meera Rajesh for introducing me to Eco Femme and Shamala for making me realize that chum water is indeed good for plants.

Here is a list of resources on this subject.

menstrupedia - a friendly guide to healthy periods
goonj - a voice, an effort
the alternative - reducing the monthly plastic
she-cup - affordable menstrual cups in India (costs Rs. 695)
Eco-Femme - option of rural (each kit consisting of 3 pads and travel pouches costs Rs.200) and international pads (starts from Rs. 215) 

To help or not to help..

I am faced with a dilemma..

The micro entrepreneur near my place who makes a living through her crude lunch/snack home now wants to expand her business to include cool drinks - of the aerated drinks kind. She has already thrust us with a significant amount towards the cost of the refrigerator and is banking on me to get her a good deal.

Now, first of all, I do not subscribe to all those aerated drinks - some of which contain 'natural identical flavoring agents'. Secondly, I feel it is a waste of power to cool these drinks which 'taste best only when chilled'. She has managed to get free power from the construction site where she has put up her shop. Nevertheless, why waste power to cool something that is not adding any value to one's health, but is only filling the pockets of stars in the name of advertising and marketing.

I did manage to tell her subtly to sell buttermilk cooled in earthern pots - she said she has already tried it and there are no takers.

I can't really give her gyan about health or environmental concerns when all she is worried about is making a few extra bucks that she can spend on her kids' education.

So, the best I can do is to get her a good deal by finding a used refrigerator.

Dont throw waste, just dump it

I dont remember when and how I got the idea of managing waste at home; paper to start with and then moving on to kitchen waste.
Inspired by a TV program on handmade paper, my brother and I used the wet grinder at home to grind waste paper and made hand made paper out of it.. this was when we were in school :)

We were already using kitchen waste for the garden in a very unorganized way by just throwing it in the garden, but mom was not very happy about it because of the flies and rodents who would come to devour on it.

I then heard about using earthworms to convert waste into compost.. tried using existing worms in the garden but it was not enough. Then I consulted the HoD of Entomology at GKVK (Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra) who explained the mechanism of vermi composting. I was very impressed by her knowledge and simplicity and more importantly for agreeing to spare half an hr for me.
I picked up some earthworms and followed her instructions to create rich black compost by the end of three months.. it was not without hardwork though.. firstly, the idea of buying 3 big cement pots to store waste did not go well with mom... and I had to change the place of the pots more than once.. one of the reasons was to prevent our dog from messing up with the mess..
finally it landed up on the terrace and that was not very convenient... but at the end of it, it was worth the effort.
I couldn't continue with the project as I had to move to a different location and when I came back, what do I see? A complete solution for converting kitchen waste into compost, without earthworms and such a neat design that it looks good too. When DailyDump visited our office with their products and services, I was very impressed with what they had to offer.
Needless to say, I use one of their products - the 3 pot Kambha and inspite of the ants, flies and maggots, it has found acceptance in our home.


As the name says, all you need to do is dump your daily kitchen waste into it along with a few dry leaves and shredded newspaper and mix it up once in a while. There are additives that hasten the process and also minimize maggots. If you do not want to get your hands dirty, there are service plans to take care of it for you. Overall, a neat design for a common problem. Infact, DailyDump was one of the finalists for TATA Nen - hottest startups.

There is a variety of products to choose from depending on the space that you can spare or the amount of waste that you generate or both. Some come with plants so you dont have to worry about taking out the compost and using it elsewhere. And they all come with a handbook.
I feel DailyDump makes for an ideal house warming gift, whether they like it or not! Afterall, we all have a responsiblity to the environment.

Here's an experience by another user.
http://sejswhirlpool.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/a-post-on-compost

So, till the time BBMP comes up with an effective and efficient system that we can trust, we can do our bit by reducing our contribution to the garbage dumps.

Not so guilty about driving in the city anymore

We recently bought a Reva, with the intention that dad and mom can drive around in a safe and convenient way, within the city. It may not be as safe as a standard car, but definitely better than a two-wheeler which has a constant fear of being knocked down by a bus or lorry. The Reva has given us more freedom and choice and more importantly a guilt-free ride for short distances within the city. There are no direct emissions, no sound, and a smooth and easy ride.. A friend of mine, Thej has a more comprehensive review on the Reva.
There have been many stares, curious on-lookers peeping in to see a gearless car, excited kids talking about the Reva and free advice from many people. One of the advice was from the guy doing the sun film - "mam, 3 and half lacs ge 'car'e togoboditalwa", meaning "for 3 and half lacs, you could have gone for a car itself" I told him this is indeed a car. The guys at the workshop somehow couldn't stop smiling and giggling at my choice.
All said and done, I am happy to be driving a state-of-the-art electric vehicle which is environment friendly to a large extent.