Episode 12: Taboo to Talk: Aditi Gupta’s Journey with Menstrupedia

Nothing will ever change unless we all challenge the stereotypes, stigma, and taboos surrounding menstruation—especially when it comes to teaching little girls about this crucial aspect of their health. In this episode, we have the incredible Aditi Gupta, co-founder of Menstrupedia, who is on a mission to make menstrual health education accessible and relatable for all.

With over eight years of experience, Aditi is breaking barriers through her innovative and culturally sensitive approach. Her work has already impacted the lives of over 50,000 girls and women, and she has trained more than 10,000 educators in the movement toward Period Positivity. Recognized as a TED speaker, a Forbes India 30 Under 30 achiever, one of BBC's 100 influential women, and a participant in Season 1 of Shark Tank India, Aditi brings invaluable insights on the importance of inclusive hygiene education for both girls and boys, who are often overlooked in these discussions. 

Hit play and join us as we explore Aditi’s inspiring journey, the challenges she faced, and the groundbreaking work of Menstrupedia in fostering open conversations about menstrual health and lot more!

To know more about Aditi's work follow Menstrupedia on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn   or check out their website

Connect with Aditi Gupta on LinkedIn, Instagram

Connect with Dhruti on LinkedIn 

Write to us at podcast@c2cod.com and tell us what you thought about this episode.

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Brought to you by the team at C2C Organizational Development, a firm that supports companies in bringing people and strategy together.

Transcript

00:02


00:08
Hey there! thank you for tuning in. This is Druti Shah and welcome to the Resilient Entrepreneur podcast where every month I bring to you the story of an entrepreneur who is proven to be unstoppable because they are resilient. This podcast is a culmination of my own story of resilience. As someone who taught herself early on to be mentally tough, I came to realize that success stories are great to remain motivated.

00:37
But true learning happens when you fail, you stumble, you reflect and you rise. This podcast is an attempt to bring to you, to my listeners, the situations that test your nerves, your grit and your resilience. If you listen closely, you will hear the entrepreneurs reflect. And who knows, you may have some light bulb moments yourself.

01:06
The resilient entrepreneur is brought to you by C2C OD, a firm that specializes in bringing people and strategy together. And welcome to the brand new season of the resilient entrepreneur podcast. This new season is dedicated to social entrepreneurs who are not just grappling the challenges of a new startup, but are also in the business of changing mindsets and impacting lives. With that, let's meet my guest today. Coming right up.

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Bye!

01:43
Welcome back listeners. On today's episode of the Resilient Entrepreneur podcast, we have Sambin who is on a mission to educate young girls on a topic that's often surrounded by stigma and silence. It's none other than Aditi Gupta from Menstrupedia. When I first came across the magazine, I was fascinated by how unique and impactful the concept was. Menstrupedia uses comics and

02:12
and teach young girls about periods in a fun, engaging, and culturally sensitive way. Aditi's work has earned her recognition as one of Forbes India's 30 under 30, and she's been listed in BBC's 100 Women. Aditi is also a dead speaker, a United Nations goalkeeper, and was named one of the most influential women by Business World magazine.

02:40
Her incredible journey has impacted over 14 million girls across 23 countries and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, BBC and more. So let's dive into her journey as an entrepreneur, how she turned a simple yet groundbreaking idea into a global platform and the challenges she faced while tackling such a sensitive topic. All right then, let's get into the conversation.

03:11
Hey, Aditi, welcome to the Resilient Entrepreneur podcast. It is such a pleasure to have you here today. Thank you for accepting my invitation. Thank you so much. It's great to be here with you. Great, thank you. And let's dive right into your journey. What has it been like? In one word, it has been magical just to see India going from a country who we saw periods as a taboo

03:41
started to talk about it and then periods becoming a trendy topic. It has been quite a journey and a very magical one and very fulfilling I must say. Just realizing that we can challenge the social norms in a way that is not disrespecting the belief system and sentiments of the people and still finding our way.

04:10
to teach young girls about periods at the right time and being able to raise a generation of girls now who were taught about periods at the right time and now this generation of girls when they will become mothers they are going to talk to their daughters about periods at the right time and that is exactly truly what is needed and that is exactly what we as a country and we as a community are.

04:36
who came together to break the taboo around the subject and the silence around it and started teaching menstruators about periods did together. So it has been really great and there is a lot to do, but what a great place to be in right now. Absolutely. And what a topic. I mean, can you tell our listeners a little bit more about what menstruopedia does so they become a little bit more aware in that sense? Yeah. So menstruation actually-

05:04
pioneer the conversation on our periods but a positive conversation around periods. So there was a pre-menstrupedia era that India was living in and then there is a post-menstrupedia era. Pre-menstrupedia era was only the conversations that were happening in the television ads about periods. So in pre-menstrupedia era there was periods where completely hushed topic.

05:29
In the ads, shame was used to sell menstruation. There was always this shame and the jingles would go like, like a chingul me daag and went down, things like that. What menstruated did is that we established that it is absolutely possible to have a positive conversation around periods. Because let's face it, if periods were not there, none of us would have been here. We were here because our mothers had our periods.

05:58
And we had kids and we can procreate because there is this process called periods. Yeah. To begin with, I started menstrual pediatrics because of my own experience of facing the taboo. I come from a very educated family and my parents are absolutely, they absolutely adore me and they love me so much. And whatever I am today has to do everything what, how much sacrifice my parents made, but I did not have access to sanitary napkins.

06:23
not because my parents couldn't afford it, but there was a shame in going and buying sanitary napkins. And this is some 25 years back. Things did not change much during the 20s. In 2010, there were still people who were talking menstruation in a very harsh way. What we realized is that

06:51
crores of girls reach puberty every year in India. Right now 1.2 crore girls reach puberty every year and because menstruation is taboo, 85% of the girls would follow one or more restrictive customs and these restrictive customs are discriminatory. We start to teach our girls shame from a very young age. So the data is quite unsettling.

07:21
When girls start to view periods as something that is dirty and impure and of course there is a lack of toilets also. A lot of toilets have been built by our government in the last decade. So last decade has been quite transformational for our country in terms of looking at period taboo and in terms of accessibility to toilets. But

07:49
But because menstruation is taboo, you know, one fourth of the girls who start their periods start to miss out on their school. Which means that one in every four girl is not going to school because she is on her periods. She does not have a place where she can change pad or she does not have accessible clean way to manage her period. Yeah. So what happens when girls start to miss out on their education? When girls start to miss out on their education?

08:19
They drop off from the education early and when a girl is dropping out out of education She is not becoming Economically independent. So she does not have a say in when she is getting married and when she is going to have her first child yeah, or her second child or access to contraception and All of these things actually puts her in a place of systematic gender-based violence

08:48
So this is the larger problem that living in a society which sees menstruation as dirty and impure and it's a taboo will always face where the girls, their girls are always held back and there would be a systematic gender based violence throughout her life. So it does not, it doesn't then remain just like a girl problem or something. It starts to become a human rights problem. Let's talk about

09:16
those girls who have access to hygiene products and whose parents are sending them to schools like you're and mine and the listeners of this podcast but if periods are dirty and if a girl is thinking that periods are dirty or impure we are raising our girls with shame and when you teach your girls to be shameful of their body they will always think that oh it is my fault so anything that

09:44
she faces on her body or herself, she will think that it is her fault. So if a girl or a woman can't even talk about her natural biological process, how is she ever going to talk about any violence or any violation that she faces on her body? Eventually, it is very disempowering and a disservice that we do to our girls.

10:11
at every level of the society does not matter what economic and social background we come from, period taboo needs to be broken. Access to clean toilets and access to hygienic period products are again very, very important because UTI is quite common. UTI is urinary tract infection. So most of the time women don't know till the time they come to the

10:39
come to the age of pregnancy and childbirth that we are not aware about our own anatomy. That we don't know that how many openings are there down there. How do we take care of our own hygiene? What are the other products that we can have access to that there are tampons, menstrual cups and things like that. So then if you're not talking about hygiene, we are not talking about period table. We can definitely not address all these

11:09
infections. Now again, you know, dealing with UTI, you know, it's very common to, if you're a girl, you'll have to deal with UTI, but then talking about it, talking about your intimate hygiene, the door is just not open. If you're not talking about, you're not having a period conversation with your daughter. Then anemia, anemia is so common, like 50% of the girls would have anemia, like one in every two person, whenever you're sitting in the room, just

11:39
low on iron levels and especially in our country. So growing up during puberty, you know, girls are many of the people think that when you are having periods it means that there is a blood loss and because of that you are having anemia but those two are unrelated. It's just that during puberty the requirement of anemia for a girl's body is much higher as

12:09
And then it needs to be checked, it needs to be nutrition has to come in picture. And all of these conversations cannot happen if you're not openly discussing about periods and teaching girls how to take care of themselves during their periods. And that is what Menstruperia does. We have Menstruperia comic book, which is used by 30,000 schools all across India. Apart from India, 11.

12:37
Different countries are using Menstrupedia comic book in their own languages. The characters look like the girls in their country. So throughout the world, people are using Menstrupedia to teach and learn about periods. Apart from Menstrupedia, we also have Gullu, which is a book on boys puberty. Now we were talking to girls, but you know, boys became the forgotten gender. So we talked to boys about their feelings.

13:05
What is happening to their body? When should they go and see the doctor? Is crime okay or not? What is the idea of consent? Teaching them what is exactly the idea, what is exactly that it takes to be a man. And we are also talking to boys about addiction and hygiene, very, very important. Very recently we started posting videos about

13:31
boys and hygiene and the comments were like, when I'm going, how can I send this to my 22 year old friend? So boys and hygiene is something that, that, you know, we don't address any kind of do a disservice. We leave our boys to access to pornography actually, because they have access to pornography at a very, very young age. And we leave them to pornography and actually don't talk to them about what is happening to their body, their expectations.

14:00
from themselves and the gender. That is what Gulu is doing. We also have Adi Anku, which is a book on body safety, which talks to preschoolers, how to identify a safe and unsafe situation and what should a five-year-old do when they are in their safe or unsafe situation. Because I am doing, we are raising a preschooler and that is how Adi Anku came into being. And right now we have a series of comic book, which is on character building.

14:30
because we really wanted to talk to the kids who are growing up. So puberty is the area which we understand. We understand the pain point. We understand their psychology. We understand what motivates our kids when they are growing up to learn things. And we wanted to bridge the parent child communication, because what we saw that the communication is missing so much because this is the age when

14:57
There is so much of change that is happening in our adolescents' body and their mind. And both the generations have kind of given up on each other. And we as a nation have tapped the potential of our youth. A 20-something is building a core business or 20-something is becoming a musician, YouTuber, podcaster, figuring out things on their own. But the adolescent kids, when they are growing up,

15:27
I don't think so that we are focusing as a nation, we should focus on the when our kids are entering India growing up yours and menstruation talking about puberty and menstruation was a great door opener and conversation starter. But then we want to talk to them more about character building about leadership qualities and that is what true buddy books are doing. So we make comic books to teach kids about their bodies, periods.

15:56
puberty and character building and everything that they must know to become better peer and a wise person in a longer term. Absolutely and you're so right because right at the start if we are not talking about these things there are so many opportunities that are lost and I think the energy is not channelized in the right way.

16:20
Like you rightly give the example, right? If boys don't know what to do with their bodies and they have access to pornography, more than the material that they should be reading that will actually help them become better people, that's missing. And then we blame them saying that, your mind is corrupt or you are corrupt. And then, we don't hesitate in labeling people, especially in creative labels. And that goes into adulthood.

16:48
right, as we think about it. So I think this was a great initiative and thank you so much for doing this for our future generations. It's a conversation that needs to be natural, but because it's not, there have to be interventions, right? There are certain schools which will teach kids about this, but there are many more which do not. So I think you're just targeting that population in that sense that will help make this as a comfortable talk.

17:17
topic to think about, to talk about, right? And to be open about. So thank you for doing that. But as I think about it, right? As I hear you speak Aditi, I am sure that, you know, this entire movement that you've started comes with its own set of challenges. So what are some of the challenges that you've faced? I absolutely love this question and the challenges because it was really a very fun journey so far. And it always is.

17:45
But in the very beginning, the challenges that we were facing is, and nobody believing in this idea. Like, you know, I remember sitting in front of a bunch of investors, no hard feelings, worrying that who is going to buy a comic book on periods, you know, they thought that India is not ready to buy a comic book on periods. So funds were always a problem with us in the very beginning because we could quit our jobs, put all our savings into.

18:12
just sustaining ourselves so that we can make an instrument a comic book. And we did crowdfunding and so in crowdfunding what happens is that people contribute to your campaign and then you promise a version, an early version of your product. So if you see in business terms, our product were sold much before they even came into the market. So

18:40
The challenge always, but with this kind of business, the challenge is always twofold. One is that getting into the realm of an NGO work where there is this mindset that, oh, I don't need it, my Kamvali's daughter needs it. So it has to be free. And the other challenge, the other mindset is that because it is not a very, it is not seen as a very viable business as such, there is always this challenge of...

19:09
where the fund is going to come. Both of these challenges, we were very sure in the very beginning that we are going to make a very market competitive product. Whereas where the kids are reading all the other comic books and they should definitely read a comic book that is about their periods and their body and making it very culturally sensitive. So it doesn't matter you are a tier two or tier three reader, you must be able to open up the book.

19:38
sitting in your living room where your parents are also watching television or sitting beside you and reading the book. So that is one of the challenges, but we actually did not have to raise any funds. We were making enough to put all the funds back into the company and then translating into as many languages as possible. We raised our first round during Shark Tank season one with Namita. The other challenge that

20:08
And I think right now we are facing is definitely just hiring the team itself, like making the team more stable because we are getting into making more comic books. Especially when it comes to a city like Ahmedabad, there is not, there are not many people who would want to come here. And that has to do with a lot of, what can I say? It's a very cultural nuance because the, because the bachelors would not get resident easily.

20:37
You always have to hire from somebody from Gujarat and and those many jobs and it is nice also that those many jobs are being created in Gujarat because that is what Running a company in India does creating more jobs for the economy. Yeah Yeah, so these these two are the only challenges great ones and it actually helped us to really grow look for other options and And still keep the company running getting bigger and addressing more

21:05
problems of our users. Yeah, you kind of, I think with the challenges that you face, you just become more innovative in the solutions that you come up with, right? It kind of pushes you towards that. Was there ever a time that you felt like, okay, maybe you were at a concept stage or your first few productions, did you ever feel like, yeah, this is not gonna work and we're gonna have to change the way we are thinking about it? Or any set challenges that you faced? Right.

21:33
I think changing your strategy and being wrong and then getting it right is something that is a constant journey. So there is not one time, I mean, I know that this strategy is not working or this particular marketing strategy is not working or this is not how I should communicate. That is very perpetual. It happens on weekly basis also. But there was never a time which, which told us that this is not something that we should be doing. I think.

22:00
every single time that we have launched something or we have put something out there for our readers and for our parents, it has actually surpassed our expectations with Menstrupedia itself. We don't come from a business background. So actually all the experts predicted that a company like Menstrupedia should not exist only because the problem with Taboo Topic is that the

22:29
and so hidden that people don't know the size of the problem and hence the opportunity. So again not there for another thing is that we are designers and then designers turn into entrepreneurs so we don't make a very polished version in the very beginning. So we make prototypes. We are a big believer of prototypes. So with menstrual comic book also we tested the prototype and it was such an amazing experience

22:59
feedback that we got from not only feedback, but just we could just see that how the behavior because.

23:08
enabling people to talk about menstruation is helping them to change their behavior. Our behavior is very difficult to change alter or even teach. People just have this kind of behavior and it happens over a period of time. So what we saw that with our products, people's behavior were changing. Their mindset, there could be a mindset shift and that helped us to then put in more time and more money into polishing the product. So

23:38
Prototype, I think is something is always our, what can we say is our forte as designers. And when it comes to when it comes to changing our strategy, that is really a weekly on a weekly basis, you keep doing if you're not evolving, if you're not changing your strategy, you will be you you are doomed, you are doomed to fail. Interesting. So you you kind of do revisit your strategy very regularly in order to ensure that you're staying on track.

24:08
And you're still serving the market that you're supposed to serve. You're still connected to the overall vision which you started with. So I think that's what really... I'm hearing a lot of conviction in what you're sharing. And of course, there is this huge belief that you are on the right path, which you clearly are. Where does this conviction come from? Like, where do you get this energy from? I think it comes from the habit. Every single day when you work towards your goal and when you show up...

24:37
for the challenges that you are solving, you realize that, oh, this is possible. When you do things on paper, you are doing guesswork, but when you are making your hands dirty and you have failed a number of times and more than that you have achieved success, I think it comes from that. But mostly persistence and persistence is kind of a secret of grit. The grit always comes from...

25:07
how persistent you are in your efforts. And maybe that is where it is found. Amazing. And do you have any success mantra, a go-to thing or a ritual, something like that? My success mantra, I think my success mantra is just showing up for my work every single day. Making progress. I really think that progress is, there is a lot of things that I am into inspiration.

25:35
making inspirational books and I'm into motivation. So what I've come to know about that progress is the biggest motivator. So whenever you track things, whenever you can measure your things, you track things and whenever you can track your progress and small progress also is a big progress. So small, small changes, small, small improvements you can do to your strategy, your work, your...

26:03
product, your team building, and this becomes bigger. So in the longer and active, again, in the longer run of the, I think it is every day of what is something that always matters. Yeah, you talked about, you know, measurable progress, small achievements, you also said that you're into inspirational books. What are some of the books that you, that are your go-to books when things are not looking so right?

26:31
Yeah, I think reading books, reading books for me and to hear is like a drug. Every time we are off track, we find one of the one book that is very good on that topic. And then we read it because I think learning new things because you are always limited with your knowledge and you kind of stop going in that domain if you're not learning new things. And we all have that like for example, if I have a

26:59
If I have a certain set of skills when it comes to marketing, if I'm not reading new material on it, I won't be able to gather more information about it. And when you're learning new things, you can apply that and it becomes suddenly very interesting. And then you are back into your game. It happens a lot with cooking. Any new dish that you learn, it actually develops a lot of interest in going back to the same mundane cooking.

27:28
you're cooking a new thing and that gives you a lot of satisfaction. For us, reading books and either we listen or we read not blogs and that is also reading also but just spending time with book what it actually does is that it actually helps you to tap into the potential of the greatest mind. My go to books, they are different ones for different times. Okay.

27:58
Absolutely. If I have to recommend somebody, I would absolutely have gifted this book to so many people. It is mindset by Carol Dweck. It is about growth mindset and I think if you as a person at any age can just have that perspective in mind that oh, if I don't have this, if I don't have this skill, I can develop it with hard work. We always think that somebody is just born talent.

28:27
somebody who has born beautiful or somebody has great communication skills but that book tells you that you can develop any kind of skill that you want on your own if you work on it and work with strategy so that is one book but you know there are different books for different times we absolutely I absolutely love how to win friends and influence people again just one

28:56
can you can be the most amazing person in the room. You can you can lead such meaningful life and such meaningful and you can actually nurture such meaningful relationships that actually improves the quality of your life. Atomic Habit by Jane Steer I think is again a great book. It just shows that you know small small changes you do and that amounts to a very big change. One percent.

29:26
Yeah, one person, you know, this small changes and that atomic, you know, yeah. Three books. These are some recommended book, but my go-to book is always the one that is I'm reading. Or I have a podcast. It is a podcast by Tim Cook. It is called Habits of Happiness because my job as an entrepreneur and two mothers to mother of two becomes stressful.

29:52
Because running a company brings its own uncertainty on a day to day basis. So Habits of Happiness podcast is something that whenever I feel like, oh, aaj bahut ho gaya hai. Let's listen to something. Yeah. Amazing. I'll check it out. I haven't heard that before. So I'm definitely going to. You'll love it. Yeah. Great. So.

30:17
How does Aditi remain resilient in that sense? You did mention a few things, but do you have any daily rituals besides, of course, your go-to books? Is there anything that you do on an everyday basis, or people you connect with, or anything? What keeps you resilient? I think everyday basis, like whenever we talk about everyday basis, sometimes you are not your 100% and you still show up. I think that has been my mantra.

30:46
I would be feeling, I would be feeling very pathetic, like, you know, health wise or, or challenge wise or mindset wise, but I'll still put up the darkest lipstick and still show up to work. So that is something that, that has always helped me, but journaling definitely helps seeking, seeking there. I don't think that there has to be a silver bullet, but there has to be lead bullets. So there is a lot of lead bullets that one must always keep with themselves.

31:16
I have not done a single silver bullet. If this I am doing, everything will be fine. If this is not working, then I have a lot of late bullets. If this did not work today, then maybe this. So, journaling is one thing. Showing up to work definitely. But 365 days on Sundays, I cannot come to work. On Sundays also challenges could come. But then seeking advice from people when you are feeling off track.

31:46
seeking advice from experts, investing time in your mental health, then habits of happiness are always there, you know, there is a habit of happiness is playing with your kids, having enough time for your family time, having focused work and eating well, eating well and sleeping well I think solves most of the problem for adult life, which is very underrated.

32:13
But if you're eating well, healthy food and sleeping eight hours, that will mostly solve 50% of your problems. Absolutely. Well, some good things over there, right? You mentioned journaling, you mentioned reading, reaching out, you know, spending time with people and things that matter. For example, your kids, the food that you take, the, you know, the sleep cycle that you follow. I think all of those things definitely.

32:41
You're absolutely right. These are different bullets that you can pick up and move forward with, not just one thing that leads to this kind of resilient life in that sense. So thank you so much, Aditi. It's been an absolute pleasure speaking with you. And I wish you all the more success. And I'm hoping that you know you will take kids from

33:04
their pre-K to the puberty age, adolescence, the teen years. I hope you come up with something for teenagers and young adults. And Aditi and Menstrupedia will be there to guide them through the tough years in that sense, which are typically overlooked, saying, hey, it's just a kid. So I hope you're able to do that and look forward to reading more about it and hearing your stories. Thank you so much. Thanks. Take care. Bye.

33:34
you

33:37
Wow, what a humbling conversation and truly a topic that I think all of us are aware of but don't really talk about. What did you think of this webinar? So, you know Dhruti, I think for me what truly stood out in this conversation that you had with Aditi is obviously the entire concept of Menstrupedia itself.

34:00
which takes a topic that's often considered taboo and presenting it to the audience in such a creative and approachable way. That was just amazing, right? Yeah. And I also love how she, Aditi, emphasizes that kids should feel comfortable enough to sit with their parents and openly read and talk about menstrual and women's health. And so, you know, being a mom, I can so relate to this because my daughter is 12 now.

34:30
And the first time I talked about her period, she's like, eww mama, why would you say that? I'm like, listen, it's a natural biological process and we all need to talk about it. Now, clearly I do have that relationship with my daughter when I'm comfortable talking about it, but there are so many parents, moms out there who are unable to have this conversation for one reason or the other. What I also loved and really resonated with me in this conversation was the inclusivity

35:00
aspect of it where she has included boys in the conversation about hygiene. Something that we forget to. I don't have a son but now I can imagine if I had a son it would have been so difficult to have this conversation. So I'm so glad that somebody is out there taking this into consideration and it's crucial for boys to be educated about these topics as well so we can build a more understanding

35:30
to you know make this a dinner table conversation as well. I mean I know a lot of people will be fringing out there but that's what we need to be. We need to be okay having these conversations and I'm so so so glad that we could have someone like Aditi in this you know in this entire season where we are talking about social entrepreneurs what an impact so great.

35:55
Alright listeners, that's all for now. We will be back with another episode of the Resilient Entrepreneur focusing on social entrepreneurs and and guess what that's going to be the last episode of season two. So hang in there we'll be back real soon until then this is Druti Shah signing off. Stay safe.