Akshay Kumar‘s Padman has been in the news for quite some time now. As the release of the movie is approaching, the audience is also getting more and more curious about the film.
Padman, starring superstar Akshay Kumar is based on the real-life story of Arunachalam Muruganantham, who became a famous figure for inventing low-cost sanitary making machines. He is also known as "Menstrual Man."
While everybody knows about the movie, not many are aware of the inspiring story of the real-life superhero, Arunachalam Muruganantham.
When SBS Hindi asked Arunachalam Muruganantham about his comment on the movie "Pad Man," He said, " Akshay Kumar is the first superstar in the world to talk about menstrual hygiene, and taboos surround it. I’m happy that he is portraying my story as a Pad Man."
The heart-warming journey of Muruganantham began when he discovered the struggle his wife Shanthi has to go through every month during her menstrual cycle. Shanthi used to gather rags and newspapers to use during ‘those days’ as the sanitary napkins available in the market were expensive. And thus, with love for his wife and other women in his life, his journey to make affordable and hygienic sanitary napkins began.
His journey entails several ups and downs, success and failure and hits and misses.
Arunachalam Muruganantham was born in Coimbatore to hand-loom weavers. He is a school drop-out. To earn a livelihood, he started doing various odd jobs such as farm laborer, tool operator, and welder.
In 1998, when Arunachalam Muruganantham, realized that his wife was using old rags to deal with menstruation because she couldn’t afford sanitary pads. He was shocked. But he also saw a chance to impress her. He decided to make hygienic pads by himself.
At first, he thought it was a simple task. So he bought a roll of cotton wool and cut it into pieces, the same size as the Pads sold in the market. He then wrapped a thin layer of cotton around it. He gifted this homemade prototype pad to his wife.
Arunachalam Mrurganatham said,"I was expecting appreciation, but the feedback she gave was devastating."
The feedback made him think where did he go wrong? How his sanitary pads are different from those available at the market? Arunachalam Mrurganatham started experimenting with various materials; then he had to wait a month before his wife could test each new sanitary pad made by him. He needed volunteers, so he asked medical students at a university close to his village. Some of them checked his pads, but they were too shy to give him detailed feedback. In the end, he decided to test the sanitary pads himself.
Source: Supplied by Arunachalam Muruganantham
Arunachalam Mrurganatham shared,"I built a uterus using a rubber football, filled it with animal blood and fixed it to my hip. A tube led from the artificial uterus to the sanitary pad in my underpants. By pressing the bladder, I simulated the menstrual flow."
Unfortunately, he began to smell foul. Many times his clothes were often stained with blood. His village people noticed it soon. His neighbors started calling him ‘pervert’ and his wife left him as she could not handle the awkwardness the project caused her.
This happening did not stop Arunachalam. He came to know during his research that only 10- 20% of all girls and women in India could use proper menstrual hygiene products.
Source: Supplied by Arunachalam Muruganantham
So initiated a mission to produce low-cost sanitary pads for all the girls and women in the country. He finally found the right material after two years, and he could develop a way to process it after four years. The result was an easy-to-use machine for producing low-cost sanitary pads.
Machines to manufacture sanitary cost could have cost him Rs 35 million, so he invented the low-cost machine for Rs 35,000 that would grind and sterilize the pad using ultraviolet. Regardless of several attempts by corporate individuals to commercialize his venture, he turned down the proposals and continued to supply the machines to only self-help groups run by women. His invention not only made women’s life more accessible but also generated a source of livelihood for many women.
Time Magazine’s featured him in the list of 100 most influential people in the world in the year of 2014. He was honored with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India in 2016.
Source: Supplied by Arunachalam Muruganantham
He has given lectures in premier institutions like Harvard, IIT Bombay, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore. He was a speaker at TedX. A documentary on his life ‘Menstrual Man’ by Amit Virmani has won many accolades.
