Padma Shri Arunachalam Muruganantham, India’s Padman, has said that he empowered women through an engineering platform, turning a social problem into a livelihood. Speaking at the She Power Summit organised by channeliam.com, he said it was unbelievable to know that 90% of women in India did not use sanitary napkins in 2006. Perhaps when data, which was not even available to the government was brought out, it became unbelievable to everyone. I’m a school drop out. Not a Harvard or Oxford drop out, but a village school drop out.” He later received honours from the Central and State Governments and even from IITs. He also said that today the community recognises him as a speaker.
“In fact, it was my wife’s experience that made me think. She used cloth during menstruation.” As it seemed like an unhealthy trend, he asked her why she was not using a napkin. “She said if she buys a napkin, she wouldn’t be able to buy milk at home. This made me think. I recognised affordability is important. It all started with my wife. That time, it was not common for a wife to talk to her husband or daughter about menstruation. That is when I decided to make a sanitary pad.”
“I used to work as a welder. I even had a workshop. The pad I made was tested on my wife. After using it, she said it was really bad. Again I bought different types of fabric from different mills to make pads. Those were tested on my sister. She did not even like talking about menstrual hygiene. None of this deterred me. Later, I approached a few medical college students for feedback. They were not willing to discuss their personal matter with a stranger. Eventually, I decided to experiment on myself using a rubber bladder instead of a uterus. Through this experiment, I realised one thing. That the most powerful creature God has created is not a lion or an elephant but a woman.
