Menstruation is no longer a taboo at this college!

A few months ago, someone challenged a group of girls in the campus of

Calicut Medical College

, to walk through its premises, holding sanitary pads. No one ‘dared’ to do it.

Now, however, the campus is acquiring fame at a national level for a novel campaign they started, with the intention of putting an end to the stigma around menstruation — ‘Haiku:

Micro Tales

on Menstruation Taboos’. It started within the campus as a mini-story competition but has now snowballed into a movement which is receiving participation even from outside India!

Sreya Salim, a third year MBBS student who is part of the group that helms the movement, says, “It was during the Women’s Day celebrations that someone challenged the girls here to walk around the campus carrying sanitary pads. No one came forward, which is when we realised that there is so much of stigma associated with menstruation in our own minds.” The students got together to air their views and realised that both boys and girls of the campus had confusing experiences related to menstruation during their growing up years. “We conducted a serious discussion on it, highlighting the need to openly speak about menstruation. However, nobody in the campus felt it’s an issue which merits a discussion,” she recalls.
It was at this point that another student, James Paul, suggested that they conduct a mini-tale competition. For a generation that thrives on micro-blogging and quick communication, it would be a relatable idea, they all felt. James says, “The responses that we got for this competition was beyond our expectations. Entries poured in both from our campus and from students outside. Stories came in even from outside India and Haiku became a lot more than an event!” With many renowned online youth portals and news forums spreading their cause and the mini-tales, Haiku shot to popularity, leaving the students amazed at the impact.

Karthika P, a fourth year student, says, “The best part is that we could also see a transformation coming over in the attitude of students around us, who were till then quite hush-hush about anything related to menstruation. Nowadays, we aren’t secretive about that time of the month or about requesting our friends to get us a pack of sanitary pads.”

Faculty member Dr Asma Rahim, who has been part of the campaign, and is also a judge for the initial competition, says, “It’s great that Haiku became much bigger than a mere competition. In the stories, I could see students from conservative families and communities making use of Haiku as a means to express their bewilderment about the stigma. Be it a story from Kerala, Pune or outside India, the sentiments, experiences, confusions and concerns were the same.” And how did it change the attitudes? “A sanitary pad is not something to be wrapped and carried around here, anymore. Unlike in the past, the sanitary napkin dispenser isn’t hidden in some corner either,” she observes.

As a next step, the college is planning to launch all the stories in a book format. Sreya says, “We are also planning to organise bigger campaigns to quash conservative notions around menstruation. This is a small step towards a big cause.”

A few of the micro-tales

‘’Womanhood’’ her mom said,
‘’Grown-up’’, her sister exclaimed,
‘’Responsibility’’, her teacher reminded,
‘’Caged’’, the society jeered

— a tale by Sreya Salim, Calicut medical College

They said I was impure
So I removed my uterus
They say I am sterile

— Meera S N, Govt Medical College, Trivandrum