No Periods, No Kids, So Celebrate Them, Says Anu Agarwal

Veteran actress Anu Agarwal says the period is a natural process and we need to celebrate them rather than feel ashamed about, as without periods there will be no conception.

Several celebrities from Bollywood, business, and the academic world met at a two-day event to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene. The event called #PeriodToPeriodShame kicks off a month-long campaign to reach out to as many as 4.2 Million women and called for putting an end to period shame.

Talking about the initiative to create awareness about menstrual taboo, Anu said, “I think what we need is awareness because I think we are ignorant about a lot of things. We are ignorant about common happening as Periods. Because a lot of girls that I have talked to, coming from the middle class and upper-middle-class background, they said that when they got periods for the first time, they didn’t know what was happening to them and no-one really told what was happening, and some of them thought they were dying. I mean their mother didn’t even tell them what was happening.

So I think we need to create awareness, amongst girls, as to what period really is, and of course among boys and then society. We need to create awareness all around the fact that this is a natural and biological process. Without periods there will be no conception. If women don’t get period, there will be no babies, if kids are born because women get periods, then I think it is something that needs to be celebrated and something to be looked up to, rather than to be ashamed of” added Anu.

As part of the campaign, Period Potlis – a bag of essential menstrual hygiene products, nutrition products and a period manual will also be distributed to young girls while imparting necessary knowledge and awareness about healthy menstruation.

Further adding, Anu said we also need to have acceptance about the menstrual cycle, as it is a natural process. She said, “We start with awareness and the second thing we need is acceptance of whatever is happening. We need to say it is a normal happening, it is a natural thing that happens, it is part of nature, and therefore it is something we need to accept.”

The attendance at the event included Sir Dr. Huz, Varun Narula, Ishit Garg, Rizwan Adatia, Sandip Dutta, Saumyata Tiwari, Anu Aggarwal, and Model Alankrita Sahai.

The event hosted at Wockhardt Foundation Global Office and SL Raheja Hospital Mahimwas hosted by Dr. Nidhi Kumar and Yogini Shlloka.

The hosts called for men and women across the country to use the hashtag #PeriodToPeriodShame on social media to share their period stories and take the period pledge.