My First Period Experience

I’m pretty sure every menstruation has a story to tell. Some have funny/surprisingly odd and embarrassing ones while others have scarier ones. Every woman I am friends with or have interacted with for a longer period of time has shared her first period story. It's like a bonding ingredient for woman (haha)

The first time I heard of menstruation was in school. We had gender specific workshops once a year, which meant boys and girls had separate lessons. We were also not allowed to talk about it later which always left us curious as to what the boys were taught!

We were taught about good touch and bad touch, menstruation and how to prepare for it, introduced to sanitary napkins etc. The thing that bugged me even as a kid however, was the fact that it was such a hushed subject. So many women in the house (I lived in a joint family till I was 15) and yet no trace of a sanitary napkin in the house, no conversation whatsoever. 

Did they not get it? Do they not talk about it? Is it something bad? My curiosity was heightened everyday. Every time I would run to the chemist across the street to grab a bandage or so, I used to look for sanitary napkins, but they always seemed to be hidden away. Once, I was coming home with my chachi when she said she had to buy some things from the pharmacy. We went to the store and she quietly asked for something. I couldn't even catch what she said, but the person behind the counter was quick. He opened the last drawers, took out some packets and wrapped it in a newspaper. This package then also went into a plastic bag and then finally handed over to us. The thoughts that immediately crossed my mind were: is he selling something illegal? Why is my chachi buying it? Then it struck. Oh! It must be that! That secretive little sanitary napkin packet.

These little incidents led to detailed discussions in the girls gang the next day until the day I had to use it myself finally. It was 7th standard and we had this tradition of circling up in the corridor during snack breaks. I was talking to one of my guy friends when my best friend who was in another division came over and joined us. She was telling us something exciting in the middle of which she goes- SHIT-  and was looking down on my pinafore. We obviously, mildly confused, looked at her and she gave the - ‘you know what I am referring to’ - look. 

I realised before even looking down. We made some stupid actions and unsatisfactory explanations to our guy friend and ran away before he could figure it out XD

We went to the washroom and I finally looked down on my uniform (I was dreading it), and the stain was very minor. It was kinda familiar. I looked at it closely and realised it was the red water colour from art class! I screamed at my best friend for raising a false alarm and then we both sat laughing in the washroom. 

The actual day was a few months after that. I still remember the date- September 1st. 

I was taking a shower and I noticed something red going down my leg. At first glance I panicked for a good 2 seconds before realising that I had got my period. 

I came out, informed my mother who then handed me the sanitary napkins. The curiosity all ended quite quickly as we were pretty much taught how to use sanitary napkins in school. It was a non- surprising experience as I had learnt most of the parts about menstruation in school.  The only thing that made my period different from that of my friends was the cramps.

I was ready to experience really bad cramps as described by my friends who got the P before me. I even waited for the cramps by day 2 (hahaha), but soon it was day 4 and my period ended, just like that. No cramps, no pain, no medicines. At first I thought something was wrong with me but then I found out (on the internet) that there are many women who experience painless periods (god has his favourites XD)

However, the only thing I would like to point out is the discomfort of sanitary napkins. There is nothing I dislike more. I have always felt extremely uneasy and uncomfortable using sanitary pads. They are tacky, noisy and just overall uncomfortable (you get it right?) While there are a lot of alternative options available in the market now, I still have to explore most of them. I am very much looking forward to switching to a menstrual cup as it seems way more reliable than sanitary napkins, and not to mention the load it takes off the environment! 

While I was writing this blog reminiscing about my early menstrual stages, I also sat thinking about the stigma that surrounds this topic. Girls in school still have to hide their tampons and pads in their pockets, women still have to hide period products deep inside their closets. The hush and taboo around menstruation reinforces it as something shameful, which is very shocking to me because it is as natural as breathing and yet heavily stigmatised.

Terms like - “are you on your period?”, seems like you’re PMSing”, “is it that time of the month” etc. are casually thrown around to judge women. Moreover period traditions like sitting/sleeping separately, not entering temples/kitchen or not being allowed to touch certain foods (due to the fear of the food getting spoilt) have led to conditioned beliefs of looking at menstruation as something “impure”

The only road forward for the women in our country and women everywhere is education (periods as well as sex)  encouragement and access to have safe, free and healthy periods!

#shamefreebleeding