One thought echoed in Deane de Menezes’ mind before she walked up the red carpet to meet Queen Elizabeth II: ‘Don’t trip and fall, don’t trip and fall’. The 24-year-old was recently awarded the Queen’s Young Leader Award at the Buckingham Palace for increasing awareness on menstruation and menstrual products.
“I was so nervous the day before. But the queen put me at complete ease,” she recalls. Two years ago, Menezes founded Red Is the New Green (RING) — a team of six people — in order to not only educate children, teachers and parents alike on sustainable menstruation, but also to make menstrual products more accessible.
Menezes, along with Aditya Kulkarni, and Trisha Shetty, were the three Indians among 61 people who were given this award. As Queen’s Young Leaders, Menezes, Kulkarni, and Shetty will be mentored by the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Continuing Education, to develop their skills in their respective fields of work (Kulkarni works to reduce maternal and child mortality in areas with limited health resources, and Shetty promotes gender equality). A legacy fund of £2,00,000 has been set aside for all the Young Leaders in the award’s four-year history.
Menezes, however, was one of the only three people among the awardees from 38 countries to have a one-on-one chat with the Queen about her work. “It was surreal meeting the queen. I didn’t imagine she would be so active at this age. She appreciated our initiative, calling it an important cause,” says Menezes. She is still star-struck, having met other dignitaries, such as The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and retired footballer David Beckham.
The most rewarding aspect of her two-week stay in the UK, however, was meeting fellow activists and entrepreneurs from across the globe. “It was an eye-opening experience. I used to think all the stigma and taboo associated with menstruation exists only in India. But then, I met so many others who shared similar stories. We exchanged a lot of ideas on how to take our initiative forward,” she says.
Until now, RING, based in Mumbai, has installed sanitary-pad-vending machines in over 30 schools, both government and private, from Byculla, Wadala to Bandra. “You can get three pads at ₹10 from these machines. Now, there will be one less reason for girls to drop out of schools,” says Menezes. RING also holds regular sessions on menstruation with women of all ages, especially students. “We even include boys in these sessions; education is for everyone. The sessions are for children from Class V. They must learn about the period before they get their first one, not after.”
The story of your first period is an extremely personal one. But it can also bring you closer as a community. Menezes discovered this at a session with women’s self-help groups. “A woman — in her 40s — broke down during it. She recounted how she had dropped out of school because of all the ridicule she faced when she got her first period. Now she regrets that, because she’s not able to help her children with their homework,” she says.
As a part of sustainable menstruation, RING is working closely with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur. “We noticed that some people still flush their pads down the toilet,” she says, adding, “We have installed environment-friendly incinerators in certain schools to dispose of waste.”
Ultimately, it’s all about breaking silence around menstruation and pulling through the awkward silences and hushed giggles. As a chuffed Menezes describes her team’s progress after receiving the award, they have gone ‘from whispers to a roar’.