Are you scared?

Ask her first.

-Ask her first. -No, why don't you go ahead?

-Period? -Yes.

Say it!

I know what it is, but I feel embarrassed.

-You feel shy? -I can't say it.

Okay, but why did you get so serious?

What is she asking?

Why does it happen?  What happens in the body?

She is asking why it happens.

What is the reason behind the bleeding?

This is something only God knows.

It's bad blood which comes out.

Babies are born because of it.

That's all I know.

Which one of you knows what a period is?

Heard of it?

-Like a class period? -The kind you'd ring a bell for?

No.

Have you heard of menstruation?

Yes, I've heard of it. It's a kind of illness, right?

Illness?

Yes, I've heard that it's an illness. It mostly affects ladies.

Girls, you can at least raise your hands.

Say it.

Say.

I studied until I reached middle school,

but when I started having periods, it became really challenging.

The problem was that, when I got my period,

it was very tough for me to change clothes.

I had to go somewhere far off to change.

The cloth I was using became so wet,

I had to keep going out of my way to change it.

Then some men would hover around.

They kept looking at me, so I couldn't change in front of them.

I tried for one year after my period started,

hoping that something would change. When nothing changed...

then I dropped out.

We don't come to the temple during our periods.

We don't pray to any of the gods during our periods.

The elders in the house say that the prayer isn't heard,

no matter how much you pray.

It's me versus the entire village.

How can I manage alone?

They think, "She's mad!  What's going through her mind?"

I mostly observed that girls don't have much freedom,

especially after their marriage.

We aren't encouraged to work or become independent.

That doesn't exist for us.

I want to get into the police force.

Why do you want to get into the police force?

To save me from marriage.

Because the goddess we pray to,

she's also a woman, just like us.

So, I don't agree with this rule

that woman should not enter the temple during menstruation

because they are believed to be dirty.

I don't think it's right.

Go to your homes!

I just find them at home.

They're just old cotton suits I don't use anymore.

In the evening, when no one's around,

I take the chance to throw it away.

Ruby and Jackie dig them out sometimes.

Out on the street.

It's very embarrassing.

Girls see that they're bleeding and use whatever cloth they can find.

Imagine how harmful and dangerous that is. It starts getting soaked.

Initially, in our meetings,

we used to tell them, "The cloth should be washed.

The cloth shouldn't be dirty."

Now, we are talking about pads.

There are a lot of things that still need to be changed.

A lot needs to change.

The daughter never talks to the mother,  the wife never talks to the husband.

Friends don't talk to each other.

Menstruation is the biggest taboo in my country.

I'm Arunachalam Muruganantham,

the man who invented the low-cost sanitary napkin machine.

Our mission is creating India into a 100% napkin-using country

from the current level of less than ten percent.

There's a village called Kathikhera nearby.

You might have heard of it. It is pretty close.

A machine is being installed there. It's called a pad machine.

It's used to make pads.  You know what a pad is, right?

Yes? No?

No!

I haven't even heard the name.

We see them on the TV and in the stores, but we can't afford them.

No one uses it in our family.

They say that if we wear pads, we'll be fine wherever we go.

Nobody would make fun of you for wearing a cloth or anything.

Would you use a pad if we gave it to you?

-I won't know how to use it. -It won't get wet!

Show me.

Peel from here?

How do you use it?

Hello! Switch off your phones, please. You'll be doing this on your own tomorrow.

Pay attention.

Suman, please observe what material he uses at each step.

Take notes.

This is our primary raw material to make the pads.

With your hands here, snap the lid shut like this.

Is everything clear till now, or does it look like magic to you?

All good? That's done.

Once you have done this three times, slide the tray out.

Go slow and then leave it.

Okay?

Put this around here and wrap it about ten to 20 times.

Lay it straight, press the pedal, and you'll get another cut.

You can do this, right? Now your pad is ready!

You'll teach us to make it?

Can I have a look?

Rekha, ask your uncle about this.  Does he know what it is?

-What do you mean? -What the machine is and what it does.

-He knows. -Ask him.

Uncle, do you know what this is?

No, I don't know what's going on here.

What do you think is going on here?

There's a machine here that makes those diapers.

Diapers for children. That's all he knows.

Yes, that's all I know.

You haven't told him about the machine that's being set up?

Okay.

Men in my family have always known what it is.

They're just not able to say it in front of you.

Uncle doesn't know. We told him it's a diaper machine.

You told him it's a diaper machine!

It makes that stuff for babies...

-I can't remember what the word is... -Pad for children.

Yes, "pad"!

I do want to tell them I'm working, but then he'll ask what kind of work...

So I can't bring it up with him.

The thing is, when there's patriarchy, it takes time

to talk about something related to women.

It's taking time even among us women,  but we'll get there.

Everyone must think I'm an actress for you to be recording me.

I wonder what tomorrow is gonna be like.

I know a girl from our village who now works for the Delhi Police.

Who was she before that?

She could have gotten married and remained unknown.

Now everyone knows her. The whole village knows her name.

Today, her father is known by her daughter's name.

Up until then, it was the other way around.

Look how much it has changed.

No one has a better life than her.

Times six, times nine, times one.

So, what do we do? It's 12.

How much is it? It's nine. Nine will be multiplied by two.

Nine twos are 18.

Next is...

Let's go.

The biggest problem here is electricity. We could be out of power at any time.

Sometimes we stay in the dark for two days in a row.

The electrician's number is written out here.

Sometimes there's electricity at night,

and we rush to open the unit

and turn this one machine on to prepare raw material.

But only if we haven't met our daily goal.

It's not safe to work at night.

When you get out, you have to speak.

It's no problem.

-Remove this. -No.

Sometimes the atmosphere is more relaxed, and we have a good laugh.

This is our timetable. Working hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

No one can visit us for chit-chat.

They sign at the time of entry and exit.

We do this on a daily basis.

Here they are.

How many are there?

These and those behind you are around 18,000 pads...

-Eighteen thousand? -Yes!

It will be a lot of trouble.

It's looking pretty. It's an ordinary thing, but it's pretty.

Suman, how about we get a rack and display these for the visitors?

We had our reasons behind the name "Fly."

We have installed this machine for women.

So, now we want women to rise and fly.

We have a unit which employs women

to make sanitary pads for their livelihood.

Now that the pads are done,

we are looking for places to sell them.

We will talk about its quality and price.

We'll explain the difference between our pads and others.

Okay?

There are other stores around. Here, here, and a couple more up the road.

Are you watching?

This one doesn't drip.

Do you see the difference?

Our pad can soak up more than the other pad.

Guys! Please go outside.

-Whoever is available. -Goudan!

How are you, Goudan?

These are pads.

-Is anyone home? -See, I don't have any money.

Please come. I won't bite.

Brother, we have set up a unit for making sanitary pads.

Girls have a hard time buying pads from shops...

because there are a lot of men around.

It would certainly be easier for them

to get pads from another woman.

We won't have to go knocking on doors in the future.

People will come to us.

Okay, you're pregnant. You don't need it now.

-What about you? -I also don't need them.

-Are you pregnant, too? -I recently delivered a baby.

It's difficult, but we'll keep trying.

We just have to work harder.

The other pad is beautiful to look at, whereas ours is rather ugly.

You have to decide whether you prefer beauty or quality.

Our pad is like a man who is not good-looking,

but it is competent.

It doesn't look very pretty.

-Is it good to use? -Yes, it is good to use.

Have you sold anything before?

I've never sold anything. That's why I'm finding it difficult.

If you buy pads from the market...

it will be expensive, and...

and...

-Of lesser quality. -Of lesser quality.

So, now you tell me, who is going to use our pads?

Does anyone want to buy this pack right now?

-Who wants it? -Me.

This side will stick to our panties.

Why don't you come down and have a look?

-I'm seeing them from here. -Okay!

Would you like to buy them?

I'll take one pack.

...fifty, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100. Two-hundred and ten.

Our first earnings.

We came here to give a demonstration only.

We never thought we'd be able to sell out here.

These are our first earnings.  180 rupees on our very first day.

-Okay? -Okay.

Money in my pocket.

If this machine works, what's the scale that you're looking at?

I'm thinking big, Manadakini.

If you share it with somebody, it sounds like a crazy dream.

It makes pads. A lot of people know about it.

-We buy them from there. -Has anyone ever tried any other pad?

No. We were embarrassed to go buy them.

If they require more people to work on the pad machine,

then we would want to work there.