My Passion

Menstrual health is a common stigma across many communities globally. Millions lack access to basic health information, further adding to the vicious cycle of stigmatisation of menstruation and women’s health. Starting with my initiative - RedSaysGo, I experienced the stigma firsthand, so many people felt shy to discuss about menstruation, so many girls were scared to talk about their health problems. Lifestyle diseases like PCOS were being ignored due to the societal barriers attached to the topic. I bring expert-led sessions directly to schools, villages, and underserved urban areas, addressing geographic isolation, cultural taboos, and economic barriers simultaneously. In my own school and neighboring institutions, I've conducted comprehensive programs educating students, staff, and support personnel about PCOD and menstrual health, focusing on symptom recognition and dispelling misconceptions that delay treatment. Many conditions, including PCOD, require imaging for proper diagnosis and treatment planning. When I first took these services to Goungunda village, near Udaipur, where I organized more than 100 free sonography screenings for underprivileged women and girls, a hard reality struck me, that so many of these women, are unaware of the problems that can accompany with menstruation. Striking further conversations with them made me understand their plight, that they did not even have access to basic necessities such as sanitary ads, and used an old cloth instead. Something in me changed that day and I felt the need to take action. From that day onwards, I started conducting more sessions in villages and slums about PCOS, PCOD and other menstrual issues. It became my mission to spread information, to the fullest of my potential and add to the destigmatisation of this topic.  Even in a city like Mumbai, the people living in its slum areas, still do not have access to basic sanitary needs. Hence, we organised a sanitary kit donation drive and awareness session to not just provide immediate gratification of this need, but also equip them with knowledge to battle this stigma. From my quest to spread knowledge, I have had many learnings. It was eye-opening to see how many women suffer in silence, don’t share their pain and ignore their own needs, because they did not feel comfortable to do so. It makes me feel privileged to have access to such good healthcare services to treat my own PCOS. It makes we wish to help many other women and girls who fall trap to societal taboos and stigma.