“Two years later, I got my periods. Thanks to that event in school, I wasn’t afraid to see the blood.”
I can remember that day exactly as it was, some ten years back. A murmur was spreading around that something bad had happened to a girl who was one class senior to me. I was in class 5th.
It was a Saturday, therefore, white skirt.
We came to hear that her white skirt had become red, and that she had bled. Also, that she had cried the whole time and later left with her father.
Nobody among my friends seemed to have any idea of what had happened but there definitely was an eager suspiciousness in everyone’s mind.
Back then, the school had classes upto 7th standard. Suddenly, an informal announcement was made that all girls of classes sixth and seventh would have to gather in the assembly hall to meet teachers. The announcement pumped up our suspicion, obviously because we were not invited. Not to mention, the boys were in a separate excitement all together.
Because everything was going out in murmurs, the gender divide was getting broader, the girl was feeling more and more feminine and the boy more masculine despite knowing anything.
While that meeting continued for an hour, we, not for once could concentrate on whatever was being taught in class.Our minds were stuck in the meeting. We would simply seek permission to go to washrooms, so as to get an idea of what was happening. The class ended and almost all the girls gathered outside.
I went to my sister who was in sixth standard and asked her about the meeting. She deferred my question and said” it is not your business to know what happened.
“My heart literally broke into pieces. But then, the phrase “menstrual cycle” was floating in the air. We consulted the Oxford dictionary to find out what it meant, only to get more suspicious.
Then, with time I understood what menstruation was. It was definitely not something one should murmur about. Two years later, I got my periods, thanks to that event in school, I wasn’t afraid to see the blood.