First Period Memoir: Celebration Through The Ages

Posted on Nov 25th, 2015

by Cheelu Chandran

Stories and Experiences

Let me start by saying that[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””] I have enjoyed my period years, the pain and discomfort of them notwithstanding.[/inlinetweet]

I got my first periods at the tender age of ten and half years. Although the day I first got it is etched firmly on my mind, I cannot believe that time has flown by so quickly and that now I am on the other side, having menopaused almost two years ago. When I was about ten years old, my mother had started period ‘talks’ with me and had already shown me how to wear a pad, how to keep myself clean and stay hygienic during that time. Not once was a period looked upon as dirty or something to be shameful for. Everyone in my family was open about it. The first time I got it however was dramatic, as were most things in my life.

About a week (or maybe more) before my D-day, my father came down with a bad case of food poisoning; so bad that he had to be administered drips at home. My mother, a very active person in her heyday, was the Chairperson of the Ladies’ Circle Club and that was the exact time when she was running around arranging for its Annual General Meeting. Needless to say, between running around, doing all the house work, looking after my dad and me and all the cooking, she already had her hands quite full.

A few days after my dad came down with this sickness, I followed suit by coming down with severe dysentery. Three days after this awful bout, when I went to the toilet, I saw blood. Fortunately, since my mother had already told me about it I didn’t panic but simply called out to her to come and check. I was unsure, naturally, it being my first time and all. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]I still remember her expression; it was mixed with both joy and confusion.[/inlinetweet] Joy because her daughter had grown up and confusion because she wasn’t sure if it actually was period blood or blood caused because of dysentery. Anyway, she showed me how to use the pad again and said, “Let’s wait and watch”. Sure enough, a day later when my stomach was better and I was still bleeding, her doubts were confirmed. She took me aside, hugged me and said, “[inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”null”]Congratulations! You are a big girl now.[/inlinetweet] This is your first indicator that you will be fit in your later years to bear a child as beautiful as you.”She then went on to explain my possible/potential mood swings, adolescent urges and hormonal surges that I could experience and told me that it was all part of a normal cycle of growing up.

My coming-of-age was welcomed with new clothes and I was also gifted my first ever watch. They made a small ceremony out of my periods and my dad purchased gold earrings for me. Some of my aunts came to congratulate me and the whole event was completely joyful yet treated very naturally by my father and brother.In fact in my later years my brother would run to the store to buy me my pads in case I had run out of them.

Fortunately for me, the Headmaster of the school I went to also had a very open mind about periods and would encourage us to tell him the truth in case we got it in school and had to go home. He would often tell us that he was like our parent in school and that this was a natural part of life. All these influences in my life ensured that [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]I never felt ashamed about having my periods or hesitated before telling someone that I had my period[/inlinetweet] if I couldn’t participate in a particular activity. And it was also because my initial and crucial years were so normal and celebratory even that I enjoyed getting my periods all my life,so much so that [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]when I suddenly went into menopause, I cried because I felt that a vital part of me was taken away.[/inlinetweet] It was a grieving process for me and it took me a while to get used to the fact I wasn’t going to get my periods anymore.

Menstrupedia Comic is the perfect tool for teaching young girls about menstruation.

I have brought my children up in much the same way. When my daughter was young, I had to send her away to boarding school for a few years and all the while she was there I ardently prayed that she would get her first period when she was with me and fortunately my prayers were answered. Like my mother did for me, I had already told her everything that she needed to know about it and like me, when she got her first period at the age of thirteen, she knew exactly what it was. Luckily, she wasn’t ill at the time she got it. I bought her new clothes as well and to blend in with the times I took her out for dinner to celebrate and I told her what my mother told me those many years ago.

[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]My son was brought up seeing my fresh packets of pads lying all around the place.[/inlinetweet] I never made an attempt of hiding it. At times, my bed would be stained with blood and when he would ask me I would tell him that it was something normal that happened to women every month. When he was young, he was initially shocked and would worry that something was wrong with me but he later understood when I explained to him that this happened month after month and that it was because of it that I could give birth to such a handsome boy and such a beautiful girl. He also understood why I didn’t want to go swimming with him on certain days of the month; oh and he also used to call my pads “mummy’s diapers!”

Author: Cheelu Chandran

Cheelu is public speaker and writer of a self-help book. She was recently felicitated as a mentor at the 50 young conference. She is the Founder and CEO of DeBox

Artist: Stuti Mazumdar