Sober, traditional morning, sacred sounds of devotional songs and a kitchen full of appetizing fragrance of halwa (Indian dessert) and poori (fried wheat tortillas). How wonderful it is for a 13-year-old-young girl knowing that not only she’d be served this, but also she’s gonna be worshipped like a goddess this day! Only this day. You guessed it right—it was the day of Kanjak Poojan, celebrating the end of Navratri (special nine-day worship of the Indian goddess Durga).
I was so excited for this morning as I was gifted a brand new suit for the same—so excited that I woke up at 6 am that morning and bathed so that I could spend a little longer in that beautiful ethnic dress. Well, the morning was spent amazingly, and after collecting thousands of rupees and feeling like a millionaire, the time had arrived to change into my pyjamas finally.
I went to my room and felt an acute stinging sensation in my stomach; it was as if one of my intestines had burst out, but wait, that wasn’t the area where intestines are located. Fear, stress and shock took over me when I spotted a red stain on my beautiful while suit. “My life is over now. What’s this? Why this always happens with me bhagwaanji (God)? What am I supposed to do? Where the heck is this blood coming from? Till when I will bleed like this? Why am I bleeding! Wait… what? I am bleeeediiingg through my umm…”
I was screaming all of this in my head, but my lips were shut, and suddenly, with all the courage I had at that point, I shouted, “Mummmaaaa bloooddd!!‘ She rushed inside my room and saw me crying. Before I could ask her anything, she shushed me as my father was sleeping in the next room. Also, I was asked to shut my mouth and do what she says.
She gave me sanitary pads and who knew, MY BLOOD WAR HAD STARTED AND WILL CONTINUE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. Uncomfortable and sad, I was still unaware of this uncalled guest. That night, no one looked at me at the table; no one even asked me if I was well or even breathing. I felt as ignored; I barely slept that night, and it was the first time I felt so weak.
Well eventually, I researched about it and made myself aware of some facts around it. I told my fellow mates too, but the question still remains the same: after all these technological advancements and us reaching the moon, why do we still shy away from talking about this basic bodily function?
I am 18 now and run my own blog on Instagram, and my next target is to definitely create awareness about this subject so that no teenage girl suffers like I had to.