Today I am not going to talk about my period story, but of my friends first menstrual cycle. It was about 12 years ago when we were in 8th standard, but not yet in school, enjoying our summer holidays.
My friend was doing her regular time cracking things, and suddenly, in the afternoon, she started experiencing extreme pain in her lower abdomen. At the same time, she realised her pyjamas were stained with blood. She got so scared. Her mother was not at home that day.
She rushed to her father, the shock, pain, her colour drained face with tears was sufficient to give her father an idea that something bad had happened. He tried to calm her down and asked what had happened, but she was crying and saying that she was going to die. He suddenly noticed the stain which took him no time to realise what made her panic.
At the same time, he realised that they were late to give information about the menstrual cycle to their kid. Without hesitation, he took her hand and let her sit on his lap. Then he calmly and patiently explained that nothing wrong had happened with her and there was no need to panic.
His words were sooting for her and it worked like a balm and she started listening to him, actually listening to him. Twelve years ago, the internet was not as accessible and handy as it is now. So there was an ocean of questions running in her head and her parents tried to make up with the knowledge they had on the subject.
After the incident, one day, her father took her to a gynaecologist who explained to her all about periods in a very easy language and gave answers to all her questions.
After 8 or 9 months after that incident, our school organised a seminar where an expert explained to us about our periods, and that day my friend shared her story with us. It was so touching, and that same day I realised how important it was to know about periods not only for girls but also for boys.
In my college days, when I got a chance to spread awareness about menstruation, I always used to tell this story to my audience, especially to the boys. It resulted in lots of boys starting to contribute to the awareness camps. They got more sensitive about periods.
And one more change occurred with the process; I started opening up with my father, brother, sir, friends and all other men I knew.
This story actually changed my life. I hope it will help change some other lives too.