How many of you watched the movie Toilet Ek Prem Katha that starred Akshay Kumar? Or are planning to watch Pad Man that releases today and features Akshay Kumar playing the role of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social activist who worked on creating really low cost sanitary napkins so that rural women had access to their hygiene needs?
While both the stories essential revolve around rural India, aren’t these topics also relevant right here at home, in our metros and big cities?
The first movie, Toilet Ek Prem Katha, is the story of a man who fights all village and societal norms to build a toilet in his home, so that his wife does not have to go and relieve herself in the fields, where men lie in wait to harass and scare the women.
3/ “Toilet: A Love Story,” a Bollywood romance about a newlywed couple, educated audiences about India’s sanitation challenge. https://t.co/TIRRmcamLy
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 19, 2017
How many of us would be alright to use pay and use toilets every day? But the alternative for them – use the open spaces next to train tracks or the open fields.
Image Credit: sify
Pad Man is based on Tamil Nadu activist Arunachalam Muruganantham who was appalled at the way his village women were living through their days of menstruation each month. With no money for expensive sanitary pads, these women would often use old used cloths and live in quarantine, as they were considered impure and dirty.
Image Credit: indiatime
While this is a story essentially set in rural India, doesn’t it ring a bell? What does the pharmacist reach out for even before he hands you the pack of sanitary napkin? That black plastic bag.
If you are buying a sanitary product, you have to hide it, you can’t hold it in your hand and carry it in full public view (the shame!). If you are on your period, be quiet about it and make sure you never mention it in front of any guys. Sounds familiar?
Did anyone realize that unless and until a woman had her periods, you would not even exist? Coz it’s the sign of a healthy reproductive system that allows a woman to conceive and give birth, which sadly has been turned into something that needs to be spoken of in hushed tones.
What really happened after the Toilet movie? I have not seen any change in the toilets that are available for public use, and I very much doubt how much has changed in the villages.
As for Pad Man, the trailers have been out for quite some time now, and loads of people are aware about it. But I am yet to see a change in the mind set. My pharmacist still uses that ominous black bag to hand me the sanitary pack, women still continue to hide their pads in their bags, so that no human eye can get a hint.
While these movies are really good in what they depict, and bring forth some very important social messages, I doubt much is changing.
Read Also: 7 Inspiring Bollywood Movies That Will Fire You Up With Motivation
