BY: GARIMA
A Whispering Game
“Have you got one?” “May I borrow…?”
These are some questions we asked with hesitation and embarrassment. But the hidden word in those questions is “PAD”. It’s like talking on a covert operation when you ask for a pad.
During my school days, I still remember how abashed I was as I had whispered it to my friend, she barely gave any reaction then nodded and handed it to me under the desk. The same was the reaction of the shopkeeper when I used to buy sanitary pads. The seller used to wrap it as if it was some mysterious substance that would harm if anyone saw it. This act of hiding was toxic; it taught us to lower our voices, to silence our needs, and to treat menstruation as something shameful. It not only lowered our confidence in talking about periods but also in standing up for ourselves in other areas too. The words were circumspect, as though speaking aloud would reveal something so intimate to the world.
The issue of menstruation has historically been viewed as something that should not be discussed in public. At school/ college, asking for a pad was an act of whispering game. We used to pass them quietly from one friend to another being embarrassed and almost like a hidden treasure just to avoid it being an issue or a reason to be bullied by boys. In the community it was taken as shame to have conversation on menstruation even by the females.
But time and self-awareness brought something unexpected. During those times of passing the hidden treasure, I came to the realization that I was not alone; we were all dealing with the same embarrassment, experiencing the same worry and dread of shame that society had accepted as a normal aspect of life. Those whispering games became a way to connect one another without needing to explain ourselves by just eye indication, nodding head and careful passing of pads which create a safe space where taboos don’t exist. These covert discussions gave the girls the courage to speak out, ask questions about menstruation health, and break the taboo around it.
The starting was an act of shame that slowly turned into awareness and understanding. The nodding, whispering, and cautious passing proved to be incredibly defiant of the taboos surrounding menstruation health. We learned that menstrual health is a topic that should be openly talked about in a safe space and each individual has equal right to get informed without having shame or being embarrassed. The girls out there are aware that the process of bleeding is as normal as breathing which challenges the ingrained social taboos. These small actions taught us how casually we talk about menstruation and related problems with the similar ones when we feel comfortable. In other words, a pad wasn’t just a whispering game, it was a symbol of trust, support and unity.
As I look back, those whispered conversations taught me that breaking taboos doesn’t always have to be loud and thundering. Sometimes small talk can occasionally spark revolutionary action. So next time if someone asks “Have you got one?” let’s make sure it doesn’t have to be whispered.