The Better India
For generations, menstruation in India has been wrapped in silence, stigma, and a maze of myths. From being told not to enter kitchens or temples to hiding sanitary products in black plastic bags, young girls often grow up associating their periods with shame rather than biology. Even today, conversations around menstruation are either avoided or cloaked in euphemisms, leaving millions of adolescents confused, misinformed, and unprepared. It is in this landscape of discomfort and misinformation that Menstrupedia emerged, not as a lecture but as a story. Aditi Gupta's journey from silence to storytelling is reshaping how menstruation is understood. Photograph: ( India Times ) Co-founded by Aditi Gupta, Menstrupedia is a comic-led menstrual education platform that has quietly transformed how young people understand periods. What sets it apart is its simplicity: it uses relatable characters, storytelling, and culturally sensitive visuals to explain menstruation in an engaging rather than intimidating way. At its heart is a powerful idea — that knowledge, when delivered in the right format, can dismantle even the most deep-rooted taboos. From silence to storytelling Aditi Gupta’s journey began in a small town in Jharkhand, where she experienced firsthand the confusion and restrictions that surround menstruation. She got her first period at 12, but like many girls, wasn’t taught about it properly until years later. In the meantime, she navigated a world of rules — don’t touch, don’t sit here, don’t talk about it, without understanding why. These early experiences stayed with her. Years later, while studying at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, Aditi began researching menstrual awareness and discovered that the lack of knowledge wasn’t limited to rural India, it was widespread, even among educated communities. What started as a college project has grown into a movement using comics to break taboos. Photograph: ( Srepublic ) That insight sparked an idea. Instead of creating yet another textbook or awareness campaign, Aditi and her husband, Tuhin Paul, decided to communicate through comics, a medium that felt safe , familiar, and non-judgmental. In 2012, what began as a college project evolved into Menstrupedia. Building Menstrupedia: Comics, community, and change Menstrupedia is not just a comic — it is a full-fledged educational ecosystem. Its flagship comic book follows young characters guided by a friendly doctor figure, answering questions about puberty, hygiene, and periods in a conversational tone. The platform also includes a website with blogs, Q&A sections, and learning modules, all designed to make menstrual education accessible and stigma-free. Importantly, the content is medically reviewed and culturally contextualised, ensuring both accuracy and relatability. With culturally sensitive, medically reviewed content, Menstrupedia empowers girls without shame. Photograph: ( Fulmino Fan ) Over time, the comics have expanded into multiple languages and reached schools, NGOs, and communities across India and beyond. Today, Menstrupedia has helped educate millions of girls and trained thousands of educators, proving that storytelling can be a powerful tool for social change. As a startup, Menstrupedia stands at the intersection of health, education, and design. It demonstrates how innovation doesn’t always mean technology; it can also mean rethinking how we communicate critical information. By combining design thinking with social impact, Aditi built a model that is scalable, sustainable, and deeply human. Rewriting the narrative around periods What Aditi Gupta and Menstrupedia have achieved goes beyond awareness; they have shifted the narrative. In classrooms where giggles once accompanied the word 'period', there is now curiosity. In homes where the topic was taboo, conversations are slowly opening up. Menstrupedia’s success lies in its empathy. It doesn’t shame traditions; it gently questions them. It doesn’t overwhelm; it simplifies. Menstrupedia proves that quiet change can dismantle taboos, one comic at a time. Photograph: ( Feminism in India ) And most importantly, it meets young people where they are — curious, confused, and ready to learn. In a country where millions of girls still drop out of school due to a lack of menstrual awareness and resources, such interventions are not just helpful; they are necessary. Aditi’s journey is a reminder that change doesn’t always begin with loud disruption. Sometimes, it starts quietly, with a comic book, a conversation, and the courage to ask, 'Why are we still not talking about this?' Sources: ‘Saying the M-Word out Loud: Aditi Gupta's Journey of Busting Period Myths & Taboos With Comics!’ by Aditi Patwardhan for The Better India, Published on 19 January 2017. ‘How Menstrupedia continued tackling menstrual health stigma when most experts saw little business value’ by Tenzin Norzom for YourStory.com, Published on 28 May 2022.
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