My brother who is five years younger to me, has always been my best friend, my greatest enemy and also my biggest confidante. Like every other sibling duo, we also had those fierce fights which ended in either me scratching him with my long nails or in him gaining the pleasure of pulling my hair. However, [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]things changed since the day I first menstruated[/inlinetweet]. I was told that whatever was happening to me during those five days was supposed to be a ‘secret’ and was to be discussed only with my mother. On one hand I was delighted that at least both mom and I had a secret to share, but on the other hand, I longed to share the same with my brother. I wanted to tell him about how my body was changing every day, why I was experiencing mood swings and why I was taking longer than usual in the washrooms these days.

Menstrupedia Comic

Like other girls of my age, I kept quiet because that was what was expected out of me. Today however, I consider myself as an equal culprit along with those who brainwashed the innocent mind of my brother with made-up stories about sanitary napkins. It was as if we were assigned a task of unleashing our creative prowess in euphemizing the details of a sanitary napkin to a young boy. Diapers, cotton balls to heal an open wound, every explanation was given to satiate the never ending questions of an inquisitive boy like my brother. I guess the napkin also wondered when it actually served so many roles! An invisible cloud of shame engulfed me as a result of which[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””] I could never speak to my brother about this subject[/inlinetweet]. I couldn’t tell him the truth – that menstruation was nothing but a natural process that took place in every woman’s body. I couldn’t in the first place tell him that as a result of our mother menstruating, we were in fact brought into this world.

Recently, I was delighted to see a new Hindi television promo where the female protagonist calls up her brother who is at a departmental store and asks him to purchase sanitary napkins for her. The brother reassures her that he has not forgotten to do so and proceeds to purchase a packet of Whisper napkins for his sister. This is actually a remarkable effort made by the makers of this serial who have tried to break free from the shackles of taboos related to menstruation which are so inherent in our society. I feel that if commercials promoting second marriage like Tanishq’s can be appreciated, a small effort by the Indian television industry is also deserving of its due recognition and applause. However, all my elation went down the drain when I read some comments on a social forum where participants who were primarily women, expressed their displeasure on the contents of the promo. It was then that I realized that we still have a long long way to go.

Getting back to my personal equation with my brother, it was actually weird as I shared everything with him except the most important part of me. However, I also realized that it was never too late to start. Thanks to Menstrupedia, which actually gave me a chance to let go of my inhibitions, we both spoke about menstruation for the first time. I knew then that I did something which I should have done a long time ago. I know we both are grown-ups today and my frank conversation on this subject hasn’t added any educational value to his existing knowledge of menstruation, but it was a small attempt from my side to make him open up, so that tomorrow he doesn’t hesitate to discuss periods with any other woman in his life.

Author: Sarmistha Neogy
Sarmistha is a copy writer at a digital ad agency and also works as a freelance journalist. Out of the very little time when she is not lazing around, Sarmistha tries to pen down her opinions and feelings on the little things around us at : A splash of colours in my life

Editor: Divya Rosaline

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