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The Women's Man

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by memeera1234, Dec 16, 2017.

  1. memeera1234

    memeera1234 Gold IL'ite

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    A yearly calender...hung on a nail in a corner of our living room. A sight in almost all households in olden days. But in our house it served also an reminder. Reminder of the days the red witch visited the ladies of the house.. my mom, sis and myself. The day it paid a visit was earmarked in the calender with secret codes. A code each for all 3 of us.. so that the man of the house.. my dad.. won't come to know the full forms. This way my mom would do for each of us kids every month.. a gentle reminder for the period around which the witch would pay a visit again month after month. This prompted us to be ready.. carry the possession along wherever we went in a nicely packed pouch and again wrapped in a polythene bag.. as it was a big national secret.. which if revealed before a man would spell havoc.
    This continues to be a taboo subject even now in my native place. Reference to native place, reminds me of days when I saw my cousin sisters, aunts and sometimes mom sit separately for 4-5 days in isolation. Separate plates to sleep, desperate carpets and sheets to sleep. This was a ritual long followed in our ancestral home. As a kid, I never really understood what its all about. As I grew up, I realised..Its something only a part of women's life. A taboo.. only associated with women.

    Growing up in a city was always a boon for me. Atleast in this context. Only male at home and quite understanding soul for us was our dad. Unlike the prying eyes of men at native place who without being said a word, clearly understand why women sat separately in a secluded corner. What must have been going through the minds of those men?

    Anyways back to year 2017 venturing into 2018, what prompted me for this write-up was a trailer of an upcoming film " Padman". A film inspired by a true superhero from our very own country India. A Superhero not known for his heroic acts in saving fellow countrymen or busting villain rackets. He is not Mr. India nor our desi Shaktiman. He's just a man who despite being a man understood women more than women. A Messiah for women. A man who ventured into the unventured arenas and did something very taboo for men at that time. He is Mr. Arunachalam Muruganatham. A man who thought about women hygiene inspite of being born in a male body. A man who ventured in the area of woman menustruation and helped thousands of women to live a life of comfort even in " those " days. What prompted this man to think out of the box? Is it love for the women in his lives or the desire to bring about a change in thousands of life? Whatever it is, I salute this man who inspite of being a commoner did something very uncommon for a man. His struggles could have well prompted anyone to back out and concentrate on male centred . But he didn't. What can this be termed other than iron will.

    I end this write-up with a big salute to the women's man. You may read more on him at:

    Arunachalam Muruganantham - Wikipedia
     
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  2. iyerviji

    iyerviji Finest Post Winner

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    Nice write up.Thanks for sharing about Arunachalam.
     
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  3. yellowmango

    yellowmango IL Hall of Fame

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    Nice write up.
    The guy is a gem of a man and also very brave.
    Kudos to Akshay Kumar to take up such topics to work on...first the Toilet movie and now this.
    A man looking into the problems faced by millions of women and a Star choosing to bring it to screen . This brings real change.
     
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  4. GeetaKashyap

    GeetaKashyap IL Hall of Fame

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    Meera,

    I would like to call him a compassionate innovator for choosing to make a product which even today doesn't get its due. It is a woman's basic necessity, yet it is taxed as if it is a luxury item! Thanks for this article.
     
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  5. joylokhi

    joylokhi Platinum IL'ite

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    Very nice write up. He deserves all the allocades that can be heaped on him for such a venture, that has resulted in making the lives of needy women easy. Although i had vaguely heard of this, got to read his full story through your write up and link provided. Thanks for sharing.
     
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  6. Nonya

    Nonya Platinum IL'ite

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    The Muruganantham story was on BBC TV, and has also spurred other innovations. Post-use-disposal had been a problem, because it was a huge taboo.
    How Can Women Dispose Sanitary Napkins? This Man Has an Eco-Friendly Solution!
    In this holiday season, there are NGO's collecting contributions to help install more of such disposal units in schools of poor countries of Africa and Asia.... including India. Having girl children continue in school, eventually ends up eliminating the cycle of taboos and superstitions.
     
  7. MonikaSG

    MonikaSG Platinum IL'ite

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    Many public figures are raising the topic and trying to make it a general and basic thing to talk and discuss. Still a long way to go. But the work they are doing is obviously appreciable.
     
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  8. memeera1234

    memeera1234 Gold IL'ite

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    Thanks Vijima :)
     
  9. memeera1234

    memeera1234 Gold IL'ite

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    Thanks Yellowmango. Appreciate. Indeed it's a big thing for a man to understand a woman's problems and work towards resolving the same. That too in a conservative society like ours where even in 21st century, there are thousands of women who still reel under the pressure of using pieces of cloth for their menustrual hygiene. Kudos to the man. And hope so the filmi interpretation does justice to his struggle and appeals to masses where the issue needs to be addressed more.
     
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  10. memeera1234

    memeera1234 Gold IL'ite

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    Appreciate Geetaji.. it's indeed true we continue to live in a male chauvinistic society where a women's problems are always secondary. Hence we are forced to shell out quite an amount for a necessity item like a sanitary pad. We can only hope the situation to change for the better.
     
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