Menstrual cups may be the ‘safer option’ for your next periods
Dipti got her first packet of pads from her first salary. Coming from a financially poor background, her parents could not afford pads when she was growing up, so she had to go for “used cloth” for about seven years of her life.
Every day, she used to wear the same clothes for hours for seven years. Team UPDEED wishes to discuss a sustainable option that our women may opt for a better healthy future.
“When it comes to menstrual cups, I have to say that the cup needs to be inserted into the vagina. I am asked to send the boys outside when I talk about the insertion. It’s 2022, and it’s high time to normalize menstruation as knowing something about the human body rather than being a gender-specific topic. The time is to move towards sustainability.”
The UPDEED team is introducing you all to Dipti Kashalkar. Dipti is on an All-India Drive to raise awareness on Sustainable Periods with her “Period Cup Cause”.
Daring, right?
Yes, it is. As per Dipti, “Gen Z understands; the barrier comes from our elders in the society, parents, college administrators, and they are not opening the doors for people like me to come and do these kinds of sessions.” “It’s time we talk about menstruation and even sex. There is an age when you tell them about the body; there’s a right age when you tell them about what happens to a female body.”
“When I start talking about all these things, they say what this girl is doing, what is the need to go and talk about these things in front of everyone. That gives me the kick, and I will not stop because that is what I want to change.”
“I have worked on the ground, and when I met these girls, I realized how much they need someone like me to come and speak to them about it because they have so many questions, but unfortunately, they are scared to ask. They want someone like me who can come and speak to them with no strings attached.”
Intent
Dipti, while talking to the UPDEED team, states, “My goal is not to cover certain km or entire India in a limited period of time; I aim to bring real change in their lives.
“I got my first packet of pads from my first salary. Coming from a financially poor background, my parents could not afford pads when I was growing up, so I have used cloth for about seven years of my life. Every day, I used to wear the same clothes for hours for seven years.
I got an infection in my vulva that greatly impacted my health.”
Tearing taboos
Another myth in society is an unmarried girl cannot go to a gynaecologist – if an unmarried girl is going to a gynaecologist, something is fishy. I told my mother, and she was like, it happens with everyone, don’t worry – “Shaadi ke baad sb thik hojaaega.”
When I decided to go for an all-India drive for menstrual cups, I haven’t followed anyone blindly and tried on my own. I find it comfortable, sustainable and highly cost-effective.
Additionally, a woman will get her periods for at least 35 years of her life, and every month she will use two packs of pads, so every month, she’s spending close to 100 bucks, so ₹35,000 in their entire lifetime. If menstrual cups are introduced, the cost will come down even if you use the most expensive one, which is ₹1000. It will take 4 cups in a lifetime. 4 cups are 4000 rupees, and one cup will go for eight years.
Message to all
Finally, I always say – to ask questions about the misconceptions that women can’t enter the temples, kitchen or anything. There might be some scientific reasons, but at least ask. I’m not forcing the child; just understand that if your child feels there is a logical reason to it, she can follow; if she doesn’t feel she can not follow it, don’t force people to follow it just because you have been blindly following it for so many generations. This has to stop.
