Nashik parents celebrate daughter's 'menarche' to remove social stigma around it

Father Krishna Chandgude said, "This is an initiative to make people aware of the fact that menstruation is a natural physical activity and nothing to be ashamed of. Even today, women are not able to move freely during their menstrual cycle in society, and people don't understand the meaning of the word. This is a physical process rather than some superstition."

Nashik:Krishna Chandgude and his wife Vidya Chandgude, the state functionary of the Superstition Eradication Committee in Nashik, celebrated their daughter Yashoda Chandgude's "menarche' in a grand manner in response to the news of a student of Trimbakeshwar Ashram School being denied tree planting because of her periods.

They celebrated the occasion by inviting many people to remove prejudices and misconceptions revolving around it. "We organized our daughter's first menstruation as a festival to erase the feeling of guilt in the mind of a girl, a woman, and also to make menstruation a festival in terms of social awareness," said Krishna Chandgude.

He also added, "This is an initiative to make people aware of the fact that menstruation is a natural physical activity and nothing to be ashamed of Even today, women are not able to move freely during their menstrual cycle in society, and the people don't understand the meaning of the word. This is a physical process rather than some superstition."

Krishna Chandgude, who works at the state level for both the Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti and the Jat Panchayat Moothmati Abhiyan, also made a short film ‘Kosh’ which creates awareness and songs with a social message, and fragments found in the works of Saint literature were also presented on this occasion.

According to sources, Yashoda was praised and congratulated with a bouquet of flowers by the guests who also lauded the couple for trying to remove the social stigma associated with menstruation and said 'it was an important event and we certainly welcome it," said one of the guests.