Quite a few may be surprised by my choice of ‘the candle’ this month. But if you read carefully, you will understand why this man deserves to be put on a candle stand.
The dire poverty of his family did not allow Arunachalam Muruganantham, born in a village near Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, to complete his school education. He had to do all kinds of work to support himself and his family. After his marriage to Shanthi, he discovered what poor women like her have to go through during the days of menstruation every month. Women who can afford it buy sanitary napkins to be able to go about their daily life as usual. But how do poor women, who simply don’t have the money to buy them, cope? They use ashes, newspapers, sand husks and dried leaves during their periods. Studies say that about seventy per cent of rural women in India, who resort to such unhygienic practices, suffer from reproductive tract infections which increase the risk of cancer.
Muruganantham started thinking about what he can do to help his wife and thousands of other women like her. In a country like India men are neither fully aware of what women have to go through during those days every month, nor do they want to talk about it. They don’t bother. This is what makes this poor school drop-out extraordinary. He realized that the big companies, who made and marketed the napkins, sold them for more than forty times the original cost! He was convinced that cheaper alternatives could be found, but there was no one who took him seriously, no one to help him. They even derided him for his ‘concern.’ But he didn’t give up.
Intent on finding out what materials are needed, he began to do his own ‘research.’ Seeing him examine discarded napkins, people began to ridicule him and some thought he must be a victim of some sexual perversion. He made pads out of cotton, but these were rejected by his wife and sisters as useless. Shame and shyness made them refuse to be the volunteers who would try out his innovations. Unable to find women volunteers, he began testing them on himself, using a bladder with animal blood. After two years he discovered that the commercial pads used cellulose fibers, derived from pine bark wood pulp, which helped the pads absorb blood, while retaining shape. Since imported machines that made the pads cost 3.5 crore (thirty-five million) rupees, he devised a low-cost machine that cost merely Rs 65,000 and could be operated with minimal training. He found a trader in Mumbai to supply him the processed pine wood pulp and his low-cost machine took care of the rest.
His invention won the Grassroots Technological Innovations Award from the National Innovation Foundation. This helped him get the funds he needed to found Jayaashree Industries, which now markets these machines to rural women across India. Several companies came forward to commercialize his invention, but knowing well that the motive of these companies was profit – not the welfare of poor, rural women – he refused to sell out. He provides these machines only to Self-Help Groups (SHGs) run by women. His low-cost machines provide affordable pads that enable poor women to work and earn their livelihood during the days of menstruation and create jobs for women who learn to operate them. His machines have now been installed in 23 of the 29 States in India and seven other countries.
In 2014 Time magazine recognized him as one of the ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’ – along with Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and, yes, Narendra Modi. In 2016, he won the Padma Shri award. Noted Hindi film director, R. Balki, is now busy doing a biopic on Muruganantham, who will be played by Akshay Kumar. The film, made in Hindi and Tamil, will be called Pad Man.
What is the darkness that makes a man like Muruganantham shine? Lack of interest in the problems faced by women, particularly poor, rural women. Apathy of the rulers. Squeamishness that does not allow us to discuss normal facts of life. The unscrupulous greed of moneyed corporates.
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