As the 26-minute short documentary film on menstruation ‘Period. End Of Sentence.’ gets the Oscar award, I follow the girls and women in Hapur’s Katikheda village and their experience with the installation of a pad machine in their area.
Two years after their lives were captured on camera, a seven-member team of women is still hard at work to meet its daily target of 600 pads. Situated next to a buffalo enclosure, the two-room factory makes eco-friendly sanitary pads from scratch using wood pulp.
The pads are sold under the brand name ‘Fly’, with a packet of six costing Rs 30. “In the beginning, many girls didn’t even tell their families they were making pads, out of shame,” said Suman, a worker with NGO Action India, in whose house the unit is located. Each worker makes Rs 2,000 a month.
Women busy in making sanitary pads at Katikheda village in Hapur.
Rakhi, another worker, who wants to be a college lecturer, uses her earnings to pay for her MA studies. Arshi, a BSc student, wants to be a doctor.
“A period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education,” — the makers of ‘Period. End of Sentence.’ said and dedicated their Oscars win to menstrual equality.