MENSTRUAL MAN (52 min) | |||
Transcript | |||
tc in | tc out | who/what | text |
00:00:06:02 | 00:00:10:07 | Shukla: | Tell me, kids, how many of you here use pads? |
00:00:12:19 | 00:00:16:14 | Raise your hands high. What's the matter? You skipped lunch? | |
00:00:17:00 | 00:00:18:08 | How many use pads? | |
00:00:19:04 | 00:00:22:18 | Some of you have sisters or friends who use pads. | |
00:00:23:09 | 00:00:28:02 | Speak to them about it without any hesitation. | |
00:00:28:16 | 00:00:33:13 | It's natural. Mothers, sisters, wives -- All women have periods. | |
00:00:34:05 | 00:00:36:06 | Can any woman avoid having them? | |
00:00:38:03 | 00:00:38:23 | Okay? | |
00:00:39:10 | 00:00:44:12 | Those of you using cloth, have you ever seen a pad? | |
00:00:46:04 | 00:00:48:23 | I have some here. Let me show you. | |
00:00:51:11 | 00:00:54:00 | Take a look. It's not a laughing matter. | |
00:00:56:04 | 00:00:59:18 | You won't even touch them? Can't even look? | |
00:01:01:05 | 00:01:06:11 | Here's the adhesive strip. Remove it and use the pad. | |
00:01:07:06 | 00:01:08:09 | Simple! | |
00:01:08:23 | 00:01:12:22 | Very soon, they're going to be made in your village. | |
00:01:13:06 | 00:01:19:08 | They'll be easily available. The man responsible for that is standing at the back. | |
00:01:19:14 | 00:01:22:14 | Mr. Muruganantham. | |
00:01:25:02 | 00:01:27:03 | Muruganantham | You know my educational qualifications? |
00:01:27:21 | 00:01:31:15 | Four years in Philadelphia and five years in California -- No! | |
00:01:34:09 | 00:01:38:24 | TITLE | MENSTRUAL MAN |
00:01:40:10 | 00:01:44:20 | Muruganantham | I'm only a 9th grade-dropout because I lost my father in my schooling years. |
00:01:45:11 | 00:01:47:12 | Then I became a workshop helper. | |
00:01:47:20 | 00:01:51:17 | I've designed my own English and I speak it fluently. | |
00:01:51:22 | 00:01:53:22 | Understanding me is your problem. | |
00:01:55:09 | 00:01:59:00 | TITLE | STARRING A. MURUGANANTHAM |
00:01:59:21 | 00:02:02:00 | Muruganantham | I know you're educated people. |
00:02:02:07 | 00:02:06:13 | Your mind's tuned to correct my English for the right tense and verbs. | |
00:02:07:02 | 00:02:09:20 | That's what usually happens so it won't be a problem. | |
00:02:14:03 | 00:02:16:02 | TITLE | ADDRESS A PROBLEM |
00:02:43:01 | 00:02:46:23 | Muruganantham | I intended to offer this machine only to women like my mother across India. |
00:02:47:08 | 00:02:50:02 | And I'd been doing that for three years | |
00:02:51:06 | 00:02:55:01 | when one day I got a call on my mobile. "Are you Muruganantham?" | |
00:02:55:07 | 00:02:57:16 | They couldn't even pronounce my name correctly. | |
00:02:58:01 | 00:03:00:12 | That meant someone educated was calling. | |
00:03:01:08 | 00:03:02:18 | I said "Yes." | |
00:03:03:05 | 00:03:05:21 | Then immediately I was asked a question: | |
00:03:06:02 | 00:03:09:02 | "Are you supplying your machines at the bottom of the pyramid?" | |
00:03:09:10 | 00:03:12:22 | I was surprised. As far as I knew, pyramids were found only in Egypt. | |
00:03:13:12 | 00:03:17:19 | I immediately refused. "No. I've never supplied any machine at the pyramids." | |
00:03:17:23 | 00:03:20:22 | "I'm only selling them in the plains of India." | |
00:03:21:22 | 00:03:25:22 | Only then I came to know about the economic pyramid. | |
00:03:27:08 | 00:03:32:18 | So now I know about economic pyramid, bottom of the pyramid, Below Poverty Line -- | |
00:03:32:23 | 00:03:35:16 | Virmani | And is it fair to say that you come from the bottom of the pyramid? |
00:03:36:05 | 00:03:40:19 | Muruganantham | Not even the bottom of the pyramid. You can say from a scrap of the pyramid. |
00:03:42:06 | 00:03:45:03 | TITLE | TIE CONFERENCE NAGPUR, MAHARASHTRA |
00:03:45:12 | 00:03:48:17 | I gave a talk at a conference the other day. | |
00:03:49:11 | 00:03:54:12 | One of the speakers presented something on the infrastructure field. | |
00:03:55:01 | 00:03:57:10 | I saw only zeros in the presentation. | |
00:03:57:22 | 00:04:03:00 | He was talking trillions. I still don't know how many zeros make up a trillion. | |
00:04:03:21 | 00:04:06:13 | When I was delivering my speech, I said: | |
00:04:06:22 | 00:04:09:14 | For two days we've talked about money, money, money. | |
00:04:09:21 | 00:04:13:07 | I'm not going to talk about money. It will be a little different. | |
00:04:14:02 | 00:04:16:14 | If you follow my way, this money will follow you. | |
00:04:20:19 | 00:04:23:12 | What I'm following is the Butterfly Model of Business. | |
00:04:23:21 | 00:04:26:19 | It will suck honey from the flower but cause no harm to the flower. | |
00:04:28:05 | 00:04:31:00 | So what I'm insisting is that you do business the Butterfly Way. | |
00:04:32:19 | 00:04:37:05 | Whatever your business, address a problem faced by the common public. | |
00:04:39:07 | 00:04:43:16 | TITLE | DR. S. UMA SHANKARI ASST. SURGEON, PRIMARY HEALTHCARE, TRICHY, TAMIL NADU |
00:04:45:21 | 00:04:49:23 | Uma | You can only be healthy if you stop using cloth. |
00:04:52:21 | 00:04:54:21 | Why am I going on about cloth? | |
00:04:55:01 | 00:04:56:21 | Do you know the implications of using it? | |
00:04:57:06 | 00:04:59:01 | When you get a blood stain on a cloth | |
00:04:59:09 | 00:05:02:11 | you have to wash it. When you do the stain isn't removed fully. | |
00:05:06:07 | 00:05:09:22 | And the women are too embarrassed to dry the cloth in the sun. | |
00:05:10:06 | 00:05:15:03 | Some people will see it and eventually the whole world will know she's menstruating. | |
00:05:15:06 | 00:05:19:03 | TITLE | ADITI MITTAL STAND-UP COMEDIAN |
00:05:21:23 | 00:05:23:22 | Aditi | Her family honour rests here. |
00:05:24:18 | 00:05:27:19 | Not in her brain or abilities. | |
00:05:28:08 | 00:05:32:15 | And not just immediate family but the entire bloodline's honour. | |
00:05:33:00 | 00:05:36:12 | Extended uncle, aunty -- everyone's honour is lying here. | |
00:05:39:16 | 00:05:45:00 | Uma | Since you don't sun-dry the cloth, it's not sterilised. |
00:05:45:06 | 00:05:47:14 | And since they re-use it again and again | |
00:05:48:20 | 00:05:51:16 | it leads to an ascending infection which goes into the uterus | |
00:05:51:21 | 00:05:55:00 | and infects all her reproductive organs. | |
00:05:56:18 | 00:06:01:14 | About 70% of reproductive diseases in India is caused by poor menstrual hygiene. | |
00:06:03:18 | 00:06:06:14 | Indirectly, maternal mortality is also associated with poor menstrual hygiene. | |
00:06:08:18 | 00:06:11:15 | There have been instances where a lady has died | |
00:06:11:24 | 00:06:16:08 | because an insect ascended through her vagina | |
00:06:16:17 | 00:06:22:24 | and into her uterus, and she died because of infection due to poor menstrual hygiene. | |
00:06:24:17 | 00:06:30:06 | Muruganantham | Actually, Day One was when I saw my wife not using sanitary pads. |
00:06:30:21 | 00:06:33:12 | That's how it started. | |
00:06:43:20 | 00:06:46:02 | I asked her why she was adopting that unhygienic method. | |
00:06:46:11 | 00:06:48:20 | I wouldn't even use that cloth to clean my scooter. | |
00:06:50:19 | 00:06:53:23 | She replied, "Okay, I also know about sanitary pads. I watch TV." | |
00:06:54:16 | 00:06:57:22 | "But if your sisters and I start using sanitary pads..." | |
00:06:58:09 | 00:07:00:19 | "...then we have to cut our family's milk budget." | |
00:07:01:19 | 00:07:04:17 | Then later I came to know it was not only Shanti, my wife. | |
00:07:05:06 | 00:07:07:22 | My sisters, women in my village, in my city... | |
00:07:08:09 | 00:07:11:09 | ...in my state, in my country were not using sanitary pads. | |
00:07:14:02 | 00:07:17:22 | TITLE | ONLY 1 IN 10 MENSTRUATING WOMEN IN INDIA USE SANITARY PADS. |
00:07:20:05 | 00:07:24:08 | TITLE | THE MAJORITY USE RAGS, HUSK, SAND, AND EVEN ASH. |
00:07:24:14 | 00:07:28:05 | Muruganantham | I saw a problem in my country. Indian women are not using sanitary pads. |
00:07:28:16 | 00:07:30:09 | It was shameful for me. | |
00:07:30:20 | 00:07:37:03 | Finally, India needed a school dropout to make sanitary pads for Indian women. | |
00:07:42:22 | 00:07:46:24 | Making any other engineering equipment was not a problem. I could test it in my workshop. | |
00:07:47:03 | 00:07:49:02 | This being a sanitary pad, where could I test it? | |
00:07:50:08 | 00:07:52:19 | I needed a volunteer. | |
00:07:53:05 | 00:07:55:05 | Medical research can be conducted everywhere. | |
00:07:56:10 | 00:07:59:11 | But apart from monkeys and pigs, you need human test subjects. | |
00:07:59:15 | 00:08:04:09 | The only available choices are Africans and Indians. Western countries still use them. | |
00:08:05:04 | 00:08:07:00 | So I caught my wife. | |
00:08:07:11 | 00:08:09:11 | I thought women used pads every day. | |
00:08:11:16 | 00:08:14:15 | Then Shanti said it wasn't possible. I had to wait for some time. | |
00:08:16:20 | 00:08:19:20 | TITLE | THINK ILLITERATE |
00:08:20:17 | 00:08:25:12 | Muruganantham | The sanitary pad itself, I made it in two days by getting cotton from a reputed mill. |
00:08:32:21 | 00:08:36:07 | The only problem was making napkins with different types of cotton... | |
00:08:36:12 | 00:08:38:17 | Handing them over to my wife... | |
00:08:39:07 | 00:08:42:01 | ...Waiting for her feedback... It's a tedious process, no? | |
00:08:44:03 | 00:08:48:02 | Waiting for a month for my wife to get her period was ridiculous. | |
00:08:48:17 | 00:08:51:16 | At that rate, even after ten years I wouldn't be done. | |
00:08:54:02 | 00:08:55:18 | I needed more women volunteers. | |
00:08:56:07 | 00:08:59:24 | The problem, as you know, is that India is a conservative and orthodox society. | |
00:09:00:07 | 00:09:01:07 | You broach this subject | |
00:09:01:12 | 00:09:04:02 | and they will look at the ground or around, or up. | |
00:09:07:24 | 00:09:12:02 | Then I had an idea. Why not use medical college girls as volunteers to test my pads? | |
00:09:13:19 | 00:09:15:19 | I came up with an Answer Sheet. | |
00:09:16:01 | 00:09:19:02 | One side had questions I intended to ask. | |
00:09:19:16 | 00:09:21:13 | The other side was for their answers. | |
00:09:21:17 | 00:09:23:22 | Later I learnt it's called a Feedback Sheet. | |
00:09:26:06 | 00:09:28:04 | I went to meet them on a particular day. | |
00:09:28:08 | 00:09:32:01 | I saw only three girls hurriedly filling up the forms for all the girls. | |
00:09:32:17 | 00:09:35:16 | Even as an illiterate fellow, I knew something was wrong. | |
00:09:35:24 | 00:09:38:21 | I understood that the feedback they were giving was false. | |
00:09:47:21 | 00:09:51:18 | TITLE | RAJESH KAMIREDDI EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER, SANKURATHRI FOUNDATION |
00:09:52:10 | 00:09:55:17 | Rajesh | In our district of East Godaveri alone there are about 500,000 students. |
00:09:55:21 | 00:09:59:05 | Of which I'd say anywhere between 250,000 to 300,000 are women. | |
00:09:59:10 | 00:10:01:08 | So I'll take it as 250,000. | |
00:10:03:07 | 00:10:07:01 | So 250,000 times 8 napkins a month. | |
00:10:10:19 | 00:10:13:11 | That's 2 million napkins. | |
00:10:13:19 | 00:10:15:24 | To achieve that target | |
00:10:19:00 | 00:10:21:15 | how many machines do you think we'll need? | |
00:10:21:19 | 00:10:23:22 | Muruganantham | I'll calculate. You just make a note. |
00:10:24:15 | 00:10:30:04 | Rajesh | Have you not considered tweaking the shape? Something like this? |
00:10:30:09 | 00:10:32:12 | Muruganantham | That's not necessary. It's only for positioning. |
00:10:32:18 | 00:10:39:13 | Ours has adhesive over the entire area. Theirs don't, that's why they shift. | |
00:10:40:06 | 00:10:44:11 | Since the whole area has adhesive, there's no need for wings and all. | |
00:10:45:20 | 00:10:48:01 | Rajesh | So this is how it holds up? |
00:10:48:17 | 00:10:51:09 | Muruganantham | They stick this side on the panties and it holds. |
00:10:51:14 | 00:10:55:05 | Rajesh | Ok, I get it. Maybe the Western product is tailored for |
00:10:55:10 | 00:10:59:04 | the thongs and other panties the Western girls wear. | |
00:11:01:02 | 00:11:04:11 | Muruganantham | And this is perfect for the wrap-around type. |
00:11:05:12 | 00:11:07:14 | Rajesh | This is for the post-delivery women? |
00:11:07:17 | 00:11:10:14 | Muruganantham | It fits so close to the body, there will be no leakage. |
00:11:13:08 | 00:11:15:10 | Virmani | Two men discussing panties. |
00:11:15:15 | 00:11:20:14 | Rajesh | We're trying to find a solution to a problem we'll never come across in life. |
00:11:21:06 | 00:11:23:11 | Virmani | Actually he has. His research was-- |
00:11:23:15 | 00:11:26:02 | Rajesh | Yeah his research was in an all-together different... |
00:11:26:09 | 00:11:29:02 | Muruganantham | Yesterday I demonstrated what I did eleven years ago. |
00:11:31:04 | 00:11:34:07 | Now we're going to make an artificial uterus. | |
00:11:35:14 | 00:11:38:04 | This is the story of The Man Who Wore a Sanitary Pad. | |
00:11:49:10 | 00:11:51:10 | You need patience to do this. | |
00:11:57:08 | 00:11:59:23 | After getting their false feedback sheets | |
00:12:00:16 | 00:12:03:21 | I thought hereafter I shouldn't depend on the medical students. | |
00:12:08:12 | 00:12:13:14 | So what I did: I made an artificial uterus from a football bladder. | |
00:12:16:08 | 00:12:18:24 | I filled animal blood inside the bladder. | |
00:12:27:19 | 00:12:30:12 | As I was walking or cycling, I'd press the bladder. | |
00:12:30:21 | 00:12:33:10 | A dosage of blood would go to the napkin I was wearing. | |
00:12:34:11 | 00:12:36:22 | Whenever I was out, I'd pull at my clothes. | |
00:12:37:01 | 00:12:40:02 | Just to check for stains. I'd become a woman. | |
00:12:42:05 | 00:12:44:01 | Virmani | And where did you get the blood from? |
00:12:45:07 | 00:12:49:12 | Muruganantham | As I said, I'm a school dropout. Majority of my classmates run chicken stalls. |
00:12:50:01 | 00:12:55:08 | The rest of them sell mutton. They kill goats. | |
00:12:56:08 | 00:12:59:06 | So one my ex-classmates is a butcher. | |
00:12:59:23 | 00:13:04:16 | Whenever he was going to kill a goat, he'd ring his cycle bell in front of my house. | |
00:13:05:10 | 00:13:08:00 | I'd go to his shop and we'd fill hot goat blood in. | |
00:13:08:10 | 00:13:10:12 | With some additive, else it would clot. | |
00:13:10:20 | 00:13:15:21 | That I got from a guy who worked at a blood bank. | |
00:13:16:14 | 00:13:20:04 | Even after mixing in the additive, it would last for up to an hour. | |
00:13:20:19 | 00:13:23:16 | Muru/Virmani | - Then it would clot. - And in this heat it would start smelling? |
00:13:24:10 | 00:13:26:06 | Muruganantham | The smell would come within half an hour. |
00:13:27:13 | 00:13:30:23 | So I used to wash my clothes and the football bladder in a public well. | |
00:13:31:19 | 00:13:33:23 | The whole village thought I had a sexual disease. | |
00:13:34:20 | 00:13:37:21 | They didn't know what I was doing. They thought I was washing my private parts. | |
00:13:38:14 | 00:13:41:21 | That meant it was in an extreme condition that was incurable. | |
00:13:42:09 | 00:13:43:13 | It was dangerous. | |
00:13:43:23 | 00:13:48:00 | I'd see some friends walking towards me. They'd change their route! | |
00:13:53:23 | 00:13:57:04 | Meanwhile, my wife thought I was using this sanitary napkin research | |
00:13:57:11 | 00:14:01:01 | as a trump card to speak secretly with women | |
00:14:01:09 | 00:14:04:15 | and to roam with the girls. I had become a pervert. | |
00:14:13:14 | 00:14:17:03 | See God's sense of humour. I'd started the research for my wife. | |
00:14:17:22 | 00:14:19:16 | After eighteen months she left me. | |
00:14:27:16 | 00:14:30:09 | But I didn't want to give up the research. | |
00:14:30:16 | 00:14:34:08 | Somebody was making napkins out of cotton. It was accepted by women. | |
00:14:34:16 | 00:14:37:00 | But I was trying with cotton and it wasn't working out. | |
00:14:38:04 | 00:14:42:05 | The property of cotton is that it will absorb liquid -- with hesitation. | |
00:14:43:08 | 00:14:46:11 | Ordinary cotton won't absorb the liquid instantly. | |
00:14:46:16 | 00:14:49:20 | Even after absorption, if you pressed it gently | |
00:14:49:24 | 00:14:52:10 | or the women closed their legs, the liquid would squeeze out. | |
00:14:52:15 | 00:14:54:14 | Then what's the use of the sanitary pad? | |
00:14:59:06 | 00:15:03:08 | Then I thought, instead of giving sanitary pads to women and asking for feedback | |
00:15:03:20 | 00:15:07:19 | why not ask for their used pads? That would reveal everything. | |
00:15:08:17 | 00:15:14:02 | But how can you ask for used pads from women in a conservative society like India? | |
00:15:14:17 | 00:15:18:18 | If my wife was with me, I could have used her pads to conduct the research. | |
00:15:19:01 | 00:15:22:04 | But she had separated from me. She was staying with her parents. | |
00:15:22:11 | 00:15:25:20 | If I went and asked for her sanitary pad, they would definitely have thought | |
00:15:26:02 | 00:15:29:08 | the son-in-law is going to cast black magic on their daughter. | |
00:15:29:12 | 00:15:31:08 | He's going to mesmerise her or something. | |
00:15:35:23 | 00:15:37:23 | Then again, I had to depend on the medical college girls. | |
00:15:38:02 | 00:15:41:16 | The agreement was, I'd supply sanitary pads along with carry-bags. | |
00:15:41:23 | 00:15:43:23 | They'd use the pads and leave them in the carry-bags. | |
00:15:44:02 | 00:15:46:20 | I'd go and collect them like a municipal garbage cleaner. | |
00:15:48:10 | 00:15:50:14 | It was a Sunday, I remember. | |
00:15:51:01 | 00:15:52:23 | I was conducting my research. | |
00:15:54:10 | 00:15:57:03 | But then my mother came near and saw that-- | |
00:15:57:20 | 00:16:00:09 | She thought her son was cleaning chicken for Sunday | |
00:16:00:15 | 00:16:02:18 | because we usually eat non-vegetarian food only on Sundays. | |
00:16:03:09 | 00:16:07:23 | The moment she came closer, she saw other women's used pads. | |
00:16:08:03 | 00:16:09:15 | She started crying. | |
00:16:09:21 | 00:16:13:14 | "My God! Somebody's done something to my son. He's become totally mad" | |
00:16:14:16 | 00:16:17:00 | She spread her saree on the ground... Put all her belongings on it... | |
00:16:17:04 | 00:16:20:12 | Tied it into a knot... Then she also left me. | |
00:16:31:04 | 00:16:34:20 | TITLE | BHARATHIYAR SELF HELP GROUP TIRIPUR, TAMIL NADU |
00:16:35:11 | 00:16:40:09 | Muruganantham | It takes six months to ready the team. Don't start your branding till then. |
00:16:40:21 | 00:16:44:10 | At first they'll put anything into the packets to finish the job. | |
00:16:47:14 | 00:16:52:02 | Have them put the napkins on the table. Someone can inspect them before packing. | |
00:16:52:10 | 00:16:53:13 | Woman | We'll do the packing ourselves. |
00:16:53:20 | 00:16:59:04 | Muruganantham | Remove any flawed product. Don't let it out into the market. |
00:16:59:19 | 00:17:01:18 | Woman | How's "Feel Free & Clean" as a name? |
00:17:02:21 | 00:17:05:11 | Or "Feel Care"? Which is better? | |
00:17:05:18 | 00:17:08:05 | Muruganantham | Why not have a Tamil name instead of an English one? |
00:17:08:10 | 00:17:10:22 | Woman/Muru | - Sir, why don't you recommend one? - You suggest some in Tamil first. |
00:17:11:03 | 00:17:13:04 | Woman/Muru | - Mother Care? - Okay. So go with "Annai" (Mother). |
00:17:13:14 | 00:17:18:09 | Muruganantham | "Annai" or "Amma". Might help you get more government loans. |
00:17:27:17 | 00:17:29:17 | They decided on "Mother Care" napkins. | |
00:17:31:05 | 00:17:33:04 | Virmani | And how do you feel about that? |
00:17:33:17 | 00:17:37:21 | Muruganantham | It's nice. Because no one cares more than a mother. |
00:17:38:05 | 00:17:40:21 | So I think it's a good brand name. | |
00:17:43:24 | 00:17:45:24 | My wife left eighteen months into the research. | |
00:17:46:04 | 00:17:49:19 | Four months later, my mother also left me. Now I was alone. | |
00:17:52:09 | 00:17:55:19 | After 2 years and 3 months, I found the real raw material. | |
00:17:57:10 | 00:18:01:04 | Ordinary cellulose, or cotton, is derived from a plant. | |
00:18:03:19 | 00:18:07:20 | What the corporations are doing is they're also using cellulose, or cotton. | |
00:18:07:24 | 00:18:10:17 | But it's derived from the bark of a tree. | |
00:18:11:04 | 00:18:13:12 | That cellulose will absorb liquid instantly. | |
00:18:13:21 | 00:18:16:15 | And it will retain it even under pressure. | |
00:18:17:10 | 00:18:19:24 | Press it. The water will stay inside. | |
00:18:21:17 | 00:18:23:14 | Woman/Muru | - It didn't come out. - It's magic. |
00:18:23:21 | 00:18:26:07 | Muruganantham | This is the material used by big companies. |
00:18:26:17 | 00:18:29:20 | It's their sixty-year-old secret. | |
00:18:31:08 | 00:18:35:11 | I solved one problem. I found the raw material. It's derived from the bark of a tree. | |
00:18:36:04 | 00:18:37:19 | But how do you process it? | |
00:18:40:09 | 00:18:44:14 | You need a multi-million dollar production line to process this material. | |
00:18:45:15 | 00:18:47:21 | Where could I get a million dollars? | |
00:18:50:10 | 00:18:53:05 | Through trial-and-error for the next four and a half years | |
00:18:54:00 | 00:18:58:22 | I succeeded in re-engineering that big plant into 3-4 smaller machines. | |
00:19:02:10 | 00:19:05:14 | Now any rural woman can produce a world-class napkin | |
00:19:07:07 | 00:19:12:07 | with my machine. | |
00:19:14:16 | 00:19:18:05 | Because I'm uneducated, I kept going. If you're educated, what would happen? | |
00:19:18:13 | 00:19:19:14 | You'd stop. | |
00:19:20:11 | 00:19:21:03 | Why? | |
00:19:25:22 | 00:19:29:00 | People are only using education as a tool to survive. | |
00:19:29:06 | 00:19:30:22 | Not to achieve something. | |
00:19:34:03 | 00:19:37:00 | TITLE | IMPROVE LIVES |
00:19:45:14 | 00:19:48:07 | Guddiya | I was seventeen when I got married. |
00:19:50:21 | 00:19:52:24 | My husband owned a confectionery store. | |
00:19:53:22 | 00:19:56:04 | TITLE | GUDDIYA |
00:19:56:20 | 00:19:59:11 | Guddiya | Slowly things began to change at home. He picked up some bad habits. |
00:19:59:24 | 00:20:02:02 | Drinking. Gambling. | |
00:20:04:06 | 00:20:08:07 | It wasn't long before he stopped caring about his wife and kids. | |
00:20:09:14 | 00:20:12:17 | Arguing and beating became the norm. | |
00:20:15:24 | 00:20:20:00 | He'd come home drunk. I'd ask him to eat something, but he'd refuse. | |
00:20:20:16 | 00:20:22:18 | He'd leave to get even more drunk. | |
00:20:23:01 | 00:20:26:20 | Later he'd return and demand: "Give me money, bitch!" | |
00:20:27:18 | 00:20:31:05 | How could I? How much had he earned to begin with? | |
00:20:31:10 | 00:20:35:09 | The little he'd leave for household expenses, he would take back. | |
00:20:36:00 | 00:20:40:12 | If I tried stopping him, the arguing would begin. | |
00:20:42:23 | 00:20:45:22 | The bottomline is I got used to the beating. | |
00:20:46:22 | 00:20:50:01 | It happened every second or third day. | |
00:20:50:10 | 00:20:53:09 | Wasn't long before it happened every day. | |
00:20:54:10 | 00:20:57:00 | He owed money to six or seven people. | |
00:20:58:02 | 00:21:00:21 | So he told me to go to bed with each one. | |
00:21:04:08 | 00:21:07:10 | "An hour each and my debts will be paid." | |
00:21:07:15 | 00:21:09:15 | "You're mine anyway." | |
00:21:09:23 | 00:21:11:23 | "You've already made my life hell," I said. | |
00:21:12:18 | 00:21:14:18 | "What will you do to me if I went with them?" | |
00:21:16:14 | 00:21:18:16 | TITLE | GUDDIYA'S MOTHER |
00:21:19:16 | 00:21:22:09 | Guddiya's mother | He'd call repeatedly and ask to speak to me. |
00:21:26:12 | 00:21:30:22 | Said he wanted two hundred thousand rupees. Five hundred thousand even. | |
00:21:32:11 | 00:21:36:05 | Where could we get so much money? So he'd beat her some more. | |
00:21:38:23 | 00:21:41:14 | Guddiya | One day, he beat me over and over again. |
00:21:42:07 | 00:21:44:13 | He even threw hot oil at me. | |
00:21:44:19 | 00:21:47:04 | I took my kids and left that very night. | |
00:21:47:12 | 00:21:50:06 | Didn't even bother taking any belongings. | |
00:21:51:01 | 00:21:54:05 | I didn't have a single rupee to my name. | |
00:21:59:10 | 00:22:03:11 | Muruganantham | After I lost my father, I saw my mother struggle to support the family. |
00:22:03:20 | 00:22:06:22 | Now because of my research and the machines that resulted from it | |
00:22:07:02 | 00:22:09:17 | I was capable of creating | |
00:22:09:23 | 00:22:14:16 | sustainable rural employment for women like my mother. | |
00:22:15:23 | 00:22:19:05 | This is not a project for those who already have some ornaments | |
00:22:19:16 | 00:22:21:20 | but are looking to buy more. | |
00:22:22:03 | 00:22:27:03 | This is a project to only provide sustainable employment for one's livelihood. | |
00:22:27:24 | 00:22:31:11 | Note the word: 'Livelihood'. Not to buy an Audi car. | |
00:22:34:00 | 00:22:37:10 | TITLE | BAKLI VILLAGE CHHATTISGARH |
00:22:38:02 | 00:22:40:06 | Muruganantham | I never book a return ticket. |
00:22:40:10 | 00:22:45:07 | It's not programmed like, "We have to install three machines in three days." | |
00:22:45:13 | 00:22:48:12 | That definitely won't work, I know from experience. | |
00:22:49:19 | 00:22:53:05 | We started travelling in the morning and arrived here around noon. | |
00:22:53:14 | 00:22:57:18 | But here nothing's been arranged. Even the building is not open. | |
00:22:57:22 | 00:22:59:19 | There is no electricity. | |
00:23:00:07 | 00:23:03:21 | In some areas, we even have to wait for days for electrical power. | |
00:23:04:01 | 00:23:06:04 | In such cases, I'll hire a generator | |
00:23:06:09 | 00:23:08:04 | or make other provisions. | |
00:23:08:09 | 00:23:11:14 | But I'm not stressed because I haven't paid for a return ticket. | |
00:23:12:22 | 00:23:16:12 | Now they're cleaning the building. Then we have to open the boxes. | |
00:23:17:10 | 00:23:21:01 | Then we'll assemble the machines. And then we'll give the training. | |
00:23:37:09 | 00:23:40:15 | TITLE | DAURABATTA VILLAGE CHHATTISGARH |
00:23:51:01 | 00:23:54:04 | SONG | Awaken, friend, awaken… |
00:24:15:11 | 00:24:17:07 | Muruganantham | We call them beemaru (sick) states. |
00:24:18:11 | 00:24:23:00 | Poor, under-developed states. These are the areas I'm keen on. | |
00:24:25:23 | 00:24:30:09 | Just imagine an area where women walk 19 km to fetch a pot of water. | |
00:24:33:10 | 00:24:36:12 | If they have no drinking water on "those five days" | |
00:24:36:16 | 00:24:39:16 | the whole family suffers because the lady can't work. | |
00:24:40:02 | 00:24:45:05 | Now even on "those days" the women are able to fetch water. | |
00:24:49:03 | 00:24:51:00 | TITLE | THE REVOLUTION WILL BE SILENT |
00:24:51:01 | 00:24:54:14 | TITLE | INDIA'S RURAL WOMEN FIND UNLIKELY CHAMPION |
00:24:54:15 | 00:24:56:04 | TITLE | JOURNEY OF SWEAT, TEARS & A LOT OF BLOOD |
00:24:56:20 | 00:24:58:11 | TITLE | ON A MISSION FOR WIFE AND COUNTRY |
00:24:59:04 | 00:25:01:01 | TITLE | PADWALLAH INSTALLS 600TH MACHINE |
00:25:01:02 | 00:25:03:16 | TITLE | BRINGING DIGNITY TO RURAL WOMEN |
00:25:04:09 | 00:25:09:08 | TITLE | "LADLI" PRODUCTION UNIT Pardada Pardadi Girls School Anupshahr, Uttar Pradesh |
00:25:09:16 | 00:25:12:19 | Guddiya | I'm very happy now. I used to long for every cent. |
00:25:13:15 | 00:25:17:21 | To buy milk for my children. To send them to school. | |
00:25:18:01 | 00:25:20:05 | I couldn't do any of that. | |
00:25:20:09 | 00:25:22:09 | Granted, my parents would give me some money | |
00:25:22:13 | 00:25:24:06 | but I had to ask them for it. | |
00:25:24:18 | 00:25:28:14 | Now I don't need to ask anyone. I'm working. I have money to spend. | |
00:25:28:22 | 00:25:32:11 | Neither my family nor I have any worries now. | |
00:25:32:23 | 00:25:37:04 | But my parents did object to my having a job at first. | |
00:25:37:23 | 00:25:41:03 | They said my father and brother were still around. | |
00:25:41:10 | 00:25:44:05 | I could tend to the cattle at home. | |
00:25:44:11 | 00:25:47:16 | But I was getting depressed just sitting around at home. | |
00:25:47:20 | 00:25:50:13 | And I knew the neighbours would start to gossip. | |
00:25:50:17 | 00:25:54:04 | Mother/Guddiya | - They do gossip. - Four neighbours, four gossip tales. |
00:25:55:06 | 00:26:00:06 | Mother | Now they say, "She's out all day. What kind of school keeps her so busy?" |
00:26:00:12 | 00:26:03:07 | Guddiya | It's something new each time but I've stopped caring. |
00:26:04:09 | 00:26:08:13 | And so my mindset has changed. I've built a new life for myself. | |
00:26:09:22 | 00:26:13:00 | I used to be afraid to speak. I barely said anything to others. | |
00:26:14:05 | 00:26:17:06 | I'd speak when spoken to but otherwise I'd stay silent. | |
00:26:18:02 | 00:26:20:02 | It was as if I didn't exist. | |
00:26:20:09 | 00:26:23:18 | But now? If others don't start the conversation, I will. | |
00:26:29:13 | 00:26:33:02 | Muruganantham | I'm speaking to you from a remote village in Chhattisgarh. |
00:26:37:10 | 00:26:41:13 | Okay sir, we can do it. But we intend to work only in remote parts of the country. | |
00:26:41:19 | 00:26:45:14 | We're not interested in metro cities. So that's why... | |
00:26:46:11 | 00:26:51:05 | Muruganantham | That's why I have yet to appoint any dealers or distributors in my own country. |
00:26:52:01 | 00:26:55:09 | You know, there are 639 districts in India. | |
00:26:59:00 | 00:27:02:07 | Even if a dealer was only required to order five machines from me | |
00:27:02:12 | 00:27:05:07 | just calculate how many I could sell in a single stroke. | |
00:27:05:13 | 00:27:07:21 | Millions would fall on my table. | |
00:27:08:10 | 00:27:10:05 | I never did that. | |
00:27:10:09 | 00:27:16:02 | I'm shifting the billion-dollar industry's profit to stakeholders of small groups. | |
00:27:17:09 | 00:27:21:18 | TITLE | THE MAJORITY OF MURU'S CUSTOMERS ARE NGOs & WOMEN'S SELF HELP GROUPS |
00:27:21:19 | 00:27:26:03 | TITLE | US$1000 - US$6000 Cost per machine set, depending on specifications |
00:27:26:04 | 00:27:30:12 | TITLE | 3000 Number of women each machine potentially converts to pad usage |
00:27:30:13 | 00:27:34:20 | TITLE | 10 Average number of rural women employed per setup |
00:27:35:10 | 00:27:40:19 | Muruganantham | So many industry people say my machine looks like The Wright Brothers' plane. |
00:27:41:04 | 00:27:43:09 | It looks skeletal. | |
00:27:43:12 | 00:27:45:17 | But if you keep the machine very simple | |
00:27:45:20 | 00:27:49:03 | the women's group will attain breakeven very easily. | |
00:27:49:17 | 00:27:53:07 | Secondly, they never need to bother about servicing the machine. | |
00:27:53:16 | 00:27:56:14 | Why am I using wood? I can use stainless steel instead. | |
00:27:56:19 | 00:27:59:17 | Instead of a pedal, I can make small DC motors. | |
00:27:59:24 | 00:28:03:08 | I know how to complicate the machine with a bunch of cables and all. | |
00:28:04:16 | 00:28:08:20 | When you complicate the machine, at some point it will require servicing. | |
00:28:09:05 | 00:28:11:04 | There are no servicing problems. | |
00:28:11:11 | 00:28:15:07 | A rural woman can learn to use the machine and troubleshoot too. | |
00:28:19:02 | 00:28:22:22 | I turned a very complicated process into four simple steps. | |
00:28:24:07 | 00:28:28:01 | First, uncompressing the cellulose into fluffy form. | |
00:28:28:15 | 00:28:31:06 | That's done on a small, kitchen grinder-like | |
00:28:30:20 | 00:28:33:09 | DE-FIBRATION MACHINE | |
00:28:37:05 | 00:28:40:24 | Then they pack the fluffy material into rectangular cakes with | |
00:28:41:04 | 00:28:43:22 | CORE FORMING MACHINES | |
00:28:45:19 | 00:28:47:14 | Thirdly they will go to a | |
00:28:47:16 | 00:28:49:04 | NAPKIN FINISHING MACHINE | |
00:28:50:05 | 00:28:53:05 | They will wrap the non-woven cloth using a thermal heating method. | |
00:28:55:08 | 00:28:59:04 | After that, because the rural women are making the napkins by hand | |
00:28:59:13 | 00:29:01:23 | for hygiene purposes, they have to disinfect them. | |
00:29:02:15 | 00:29:05:23 | So finally before packing them they will put the napkins inside an | |
00:29:06:02 | 00:29:08:08 | ULTRA-VIOLET TREAT UNIT | |
00:29:08:17 | 00:29:11:06 | The moment they take them out | |
00:29:11:10 | 00:29:15:22 | they will pack them into a wrapper, seal it, and the napkins are made. | |
00:29:17:10 | 00:29:19:21 | Muru/Woman | - This is the napkin they made. - Is it properly made, sir? |
00:29:19:24 | 00:29:21:22 | Muruganantham | Yes. It's very nice. |
00:29:26:17 | 00:29:28:11 | Now you make one. | |
00:29:31:17 | 00:29:35:19 | Any rural woman can learn this process in a single day. | |
00:29:36:24 | 00:29:39:03 | In this way we are creating rural employment | |
00:29:39:07 | 00:29:41:22 | as well as improving hygiene among rural women. | |
00:29:42:01 | 00:29:45:08 | That's called rural marketing. That's called empowering a country. | |
00:29:45:16 | 00:29:47:24 | That's called empowering a woman. | |
00:29:49:12 | 00:29:51:15 | Guddiya | If I'd been this person before... |
00:29:52:01 | 00:29:54:08 | The one who has a job... | |
00:29:55:00 | 00:29:58:21 | The one with confidence and ability to speak her mind... | |
00:29:59:02 | 00:30:02:07 | I would never have put up with the beating. | |
00:30:02:18 | 00:30:04:17 | I'd have hit him instead. | |
00:30:04:23 | 00:30:07:13 | And if he was here that's what I'd do. | |
00:30:13:08 | 00:30:19:00 | Muruganantham | If you asked politicians or economists, "What is important for a country?" |
00:30:19:04 | 00:30:23:18 | the economists might say currency. Gold mines. Or coal mines. | |
00:30:24:02 | 00:30:27:06 | Or offshore drilling and gas beds. | |
00:30:28:23 | 00:30:32:21 | I say just empower women. It's nothing but empowering the country. | |
00:30:35:02 | 00:30:39:14 | If you give money to men and women, their spending patterns are different. | |
00:30:39:22 | 00:30:43:22 | If you give me money, even I would spend on clothes, or shoes, or liquor. | |
00:30:44:05 | 00:30:46:07 | But if you give the money to a woman | |
00:30:46:16 | 00:30:48:23 | it goes to nourishing her children. | |
00:30:50:01 | 00:30:51:20 | And education of her children. | |
00:30:52:00 | 00:30:54:11 | Once a knowledgeable society is created | |
00:30:54:18 | 00:30:56:20 | all the roads, dams -- everything comes automatically. | |
00:31:00:13 | 00:31:04:11 | TITLE | UNILEVER HOUSEHOLD CARE FORUM LONDON |
00:31:04:16 | 00:31:07:06 | Muruganantham | Say a woman is marketing napkins in this area. |
00:31:07:10 | 00:31:10:15 | And another woman has extra chillis and onions. | |
00:31:10:23 | 00:31:13:15 | They're exchanging onions for napkins. | |
00:31:13:19 | 00:31:15:15 | It's the barter system all over again. | |
00:31:16:00 | 00:31:19:24 | Imagine bartering your products for others? Is it possible? | |
00:31:21:18 | 00:31:26:11 | That's why I say multinationals will never exchange products for anything... | |
00:31:27:02 | 00:31:29:02 | other than this. | |
00:31:30:16 | 00:31:34:18 | You people are still selling the product. I've moved away from selling. | |
00:31:36:15 | 00:31:38:23 | TITLE | BUILD A MOVEMENT |
00:31:44:15 | 00:31:46:20 | All the village women here used cloth. | |
00:31:47:22 | 00:31:50:15 | TITLE | TARA |
00:31:51:11 | 00:31:53:21 | And out of embarrassment, they'd re-use the rags | |
00:31:54:00 | 00:31:56:05 | without first drying them in the sun. | |
00:31:56:18 | 00:32:00:01 | So the rags would get infested with germs | |
00:32:00:10 | 00:32:03:16 | and the women would catch some disease or the other. | |
00:32:04:16 | 00:32:09:22 | At our regular women's meetings, they'd tell us about each other's illnesses. | |
00:32:12:00 | 00:32:16:14 | So our founder, Bunker Roy, began searching for a solution to protect the women. | |
00:32:17:15 | 00:32:22:07 | He wondered if there was a machine we could setup for their benefit. | |
00:32:24:05 | 00:32:28:13 | So he ordered these machines and started this facility in July 2010. | |
00:32:29:12 | 00:32:34:05 | TITLE | "SAATHAN" PRODUCTION UNIT Barefoot College, Tilonia, Rajasthan |
00:32:37:03 | 00:32:39:23 | Guddiya | Who knew about pads before? No one. |
00:32:40:10 | 00:32:44:03 | The elders still wouldn't be able to explain their function. | |
00:32:44:16 | 00:32:47:07 | It's only the younger women who use them | |
00:32:48:13 | 00:32:52:17 | because they're studying or since we've spoken to them. | |
00:32:54:09 | 00:32:59:15 | Muruganantham | During my research I tried giving away free sanitary pads in my village. |
00:33:00:05 | 00:33:03:04 | The next day I saw many children playing with my napkins. | |
00:33:03:08 | 00:33:05:09 | They had tied strings to the ends! | |
00:33:05:13 | 00:33:10:18 | I saw many adults using the soft area to clean the headlights of their scooters. | |
00:33:13:01 | 00:33:15:19 | Why aren't sanitary pads used by rural women? | |
00:33:16:21 | 00:33:19:21 | The majority of people think it's a double-A problem. | |
00:33:20:00 | 00:33:23:05 | Availability and Affordability | |
00:33:23:10 | 00:33:26:22 | In our experience we found a third "A" -- Awareness -- was missing. | |
00:33:29:09 | 00:33:31:19 | Use napkins to prevent illness. | |
00:33:32:01 | 00:33:35:01 | That awareness is missing among rural women. | |
00:33:37:10 | 00:33:41:09 | This is a subject that can't be tackled by a marketing or advertising team. | |
00:33:42:09 | 00:33:46:14 | Every time you see an advertisement, it's of a girl wearing tight jeans... | |
00:33:47:12 | 00:33:51:17 | Running behind a small dog, then jumping over a compound wall. | |
00:33:52:08 | 00:33:55:08 | What are you saying? That sanitary pads provide comfort. | |
00:33:55:14 | 00:33:58:21 | You never discuss the importance of cleanliness and hygiene. | |
00:33:59:02 | 00:34:01:02 | They understand the point about comfort. | |
00:34:01:06 | 00:34:04:11 | But what about it? The rural women don't have dogs. | |
00:34:04:16 | 00:34:08:00 | Even if they did, they have no need to jump over a compound wall. | |
00:34:09:23 | 00:34:12:10 | Aditi | Of course, there are the new commercials. |
00:34:13:12 | 00:34:17:07 | With that music.... There's always some woman jamming in the background. | |
00:34:22:11 | 00:34:26:01 | "The heart desires, so I can soar." | |
00:34:27:01 | 00:34:29:05 | I'm, like, this is so inspiring! | |
00:34:29:18 | 00:34:32:13 | Suddenly I'm feeling patriotic towards pads. | |
00:34:37:18 | 00:34:40:20 | I'm telling you, the next big product is going to be... | |
00:34:41:02 | 00:34:42:17 | Lady Bits. | |
00:34:42:22 | 00:34:46:00 | "Now with a top layer designed by Manish Malhotra." | |
00:34:47:02 | 00:34:49:08 | "For your girliness. And your wetness." | |
00:34:51:12 | 00:34:53:22 | "No! I want to wear white pants." | |
00:34:54:12 | 00:34:56:15 | "I want to sleep on my white bedsheets." | |
00:34:56:21 | 00:34:58:10 | That's not a real issue. | |
00:34:58:17 | 00:35:00:09 | That's not what chicks do. | |
00:35:01:01 | 00:35:03:18 | They don't spend five days a month worrying: | |
00:35:03:23 | 00:35:07:15 | "Holy crap! White pants. Now I'll have to go buy different coloured pants." | |
00:35:08:19 | 00:35:12:20 | So something more relevant would be nice to see. | |
00:35:20:03 | 00:35:24:06 | Muruganantham | The people we met from Tiripur this morning? This machine is being delivered to them. |
00:35:24:21 | 00:35:27:23 | It's sixty kilometres away from here. A small satellite town. | |
00:35:28:20 | 00:35:31:09 | They're going to cater to the suburb areas. | |
00:35:36:08 | 00:35:39:02 | Coming out with my own brand is not an important issue. | |
00:35:39:12 | 00:35:42:05 | I don't want to scale up. I want to scale deep. | |
00:35:43:03 | 00:35:45:17 | Or branch out everywhere like a movement. | |
00:35:50:09 | 00:35:54:00 | Now, by only investing a few thousand dollars | |
00:35:54:05 | 00:35:56:12 | anyone can enter this business. | |
00:35:58:00 | 00:36:02:12 | It was a centralised, macro-business model since the Second World War. | |
00:36:03:21 | 00:36:07:14 | Because of my innovation, it's become a de-centralised, micro-model. | |
00:36:22:12 | 00:36:25:12 | Guddiya | There's was no uneasiness on their part, or mine |
00:36:26:07 | 00:36:29:07 | because I'd start with the elderly women. | |
00:36:32:03 | 00:36:34:20 | I'd chat with them and make small talk. | |
00:36:35:09 | 00:36:37:23 | Then they'd ask about me, where I was from. | |
00:36:38:01 | 00:36:41:01 | I'd tell them I was from Pardada Pardadi School | |
00:36:41:15 | 00:36:45:09 | and I had brought some pads to sell in their village. | |
00:36:45:22 | 00:36:49:14 | "It would be great if you could help me." | |
00:36:50:08 | 00:36:52:16 | And then they'd take over. | |
00:36:52:22 | 00:36:56:09 | "Wait here, my dear . We'll gather some women for you." | |
00:37:00:19 | 00:37:02:17 | Tara | We made our pads for rural women. |
00:37:02:22 | 00:37:06:12 | Not city folk. They can get theirs from the stores. | |
00:37:07:23 | 00:37:11:24 | We educated the villagers about this. Now they buy pads on their own accord. | |
00:37:12:04 | 00:37:15:01 | They want to protect themselves against disease. | |
00:37:19:14 | 00:37:28:21 | CITY PADS Rs. 25 - Rs. 50 for 8 OUR PADS Rs. 15 for 6 Rs. 25 for 12 | |
00:37:29:05 | 00:37:32:02 | Guddiya | Cloth usage has dropped. Most are using pads now. |
00:37:32:11 | 00:37:36:23 | So much so that even shops selling regular brands can't cope with the demand. | |
00:37:37:12 | 00:37:40:10 | We have an order for 2500 pads that I can't meet! | |
00:37:41:11 | 00:37:44:05 | We've only delivered 600 so far. | |
00:37:45:13 | 00:37:49:00 | We've run out of stock. What can I do? | |
00:37:50:24 | 00:37:54:08 | Muruganantham | We have to create a napkin-using culture. |
00:37:54:14 | 00:37:58:06 | That's only possible through a women-to-women model. | |
00:37:58:13 | 00:38:01:18 | Here there are a lot of taboos, a lot of existing myths. | |
00:38:02:05 | 00:38:04:17 | There's a belief in one rural community | |
00:38:04:23 | 00:38:08:19 | that any woman using sanitary pads will be blinded by their goddess. | |
00:38:09:03 | 00:38:11:21 | Then how will they dare to use sanitary pads? | |
00:38:12:18 | 00:38:16:10 | In another community there's a myth that if a woman uses sanitary pads | |
00:38:16:17 | 00:38:19:12 | she won't get married. Lots of beliefs are there. | |
00:38:20:01 | 00:38:24:11 | Once a woman makes sanitary pads, she will go tell other women | |
00:38:24:18 | 00:38:28:04 | "See, I've been using them for two months. No goddess has taken my vision." | |
00:38:28:13 | 00:38:30:13 | So every customer is going to become | |
00:38:30:19 | 00:38:33:14 | my partner, my well-wisher | |
00:38:33:18 | 00:38:36:04 | my propaganda agent, my brand ambassador. | |
00:38:36:11 | 00:38:39:03 | They will take care of spreading awareness. | |
00:38:39:16 | 00:38:43:21 | That's why I call what I'm doing building a low-cost sanitary pad movement. | |
00:38:44:09 | 00:38:46:16 | Guddiya | ... and this is my friend. |
00:38:46:20 | 00:38:51:12 | I often come here to give her pads which she then helps me to sell. | |
00:38:51:18 | 00:38:54:11 | Friend/Woman | - This is the same Guddiya. - Right, the one you mentioned before. |
00:38:54:15 | 00:38:58:09 | Guddiya | I give her pads, and she can tell you how she feels about them. |
00:38:58:22 | 00:39:01:15 | Friend/Guddiya | - I like them a lot. - Would you like to tell us more? |
00:39:03:09 | 00:39:06:21 | Uma | There are some taboos which can never be wiped out from India. |
00:39:12:10 | 00:39:15:21 | We have a custom where the girl, upon attaining menarche | |
00:39:16:05 | 00:39:18:08 | is given a set of norms to follow. | |
00:39:25:01 | 00:39:29:07 | Seclusion for five days is a norm for the menstruating kids. | |
00:39:30:01 | 00:39:32:21 | She's not allowed to visit any public places. | |
00:39:33:05 | 00:39:36:05 | Tara | She's considered impure and barred from entering temples. |
00:39:37:19 | 00:39:41:16 | And she can't cook or touch the household water supply. | |
00:39:42:06 | 00:39:44:15 | Guddiya | She can't touch the laundry |
00:39:44:20 | 00:39:47:04 | and things have to be handed to her. | |
00:39:47:21 | 00:39:52:10 | She's like the fly you scoop out of milk and toss aside. | |
00:39:52:18 | 00:39:55:18 | Uma | She's not allowed to touch her brothers, her sisters |
00:39:56:00 | 00:39:58:23 | or even her own mother and father. | |
00:40:00:18 | 00:40:02:14 | It amounts to untouchability. | |
00:40:02:19 | 00:40:08:01 | Once the child attains menarche, she is supposed to stay at home. | |
00:40:10:12 | 00:40:16:18 | About 23% of girls in India drop out of school after the onset of menstruation. | |
00:40:23:19 | 00:40:26:03 | Tara | Women must advance themselves. |
00:40:26:12 | 00:40:29:20 | They fall behind because they're afraid of men. | |
00:40:32:20 | 00:40:37:15 | When a woman steps out of her home, people say all kinds of things about her. | |
00:40:37:22 | 00:40:39:19 | But they shouldn't lose courage. | |
00:40:40:00 | 00:40:44:04 | They should insist on standing shoulder-to-shoulder with any man. | |
00:40:47:00 | 00:40:49:18 | Nowadays women are advancing further and further. | |
00:40:50:21 | 00:40:54:17 | And they can do anything men can. | |
00:40:58:19 | 00:41:01:00 | Once women earn their own living | |
00:41:01:05 | 00:41:05:17 | they can stand on their own feet and leave men behind. | |
00:41:11:11 | 00:41:14:21 | TITLE | DREAM BIGGER |
00:41:43:21 | 00:41:47:08 | TITLE | SISTER TERESA MPEVDS (Village Development Society) |
00:41:47:21 | 00:41:49:23 | Sister Teresa | I've been here the last thirty five years. |
00:41:50:10 | 00:41:55:24 | I'm very close to the women and know them well. | |
00:41:58:01 | 00:42:00:14 | When I meet them I see | |
00:42:00:22 | 00:42:04:21 | their children stop going to school once they reach puberty | |
00:42:05:07 | 00:42:07:17 | because they're not able to protect themselves. | |
00:42:10:18 | 00:42:13:18 | TITLE | MPEVDS VILLAGE SCHOOLS |
00:42:14:06 | 00:42:17:13 | Sister Teresa | And the women don't have the proper materials |
00:42:18:08 | 00:42:22:22 | so they also feel insecure during their periods. | |
00:42:25:06 | 00:42:28:11 | TITLE | MPEVDS WOMEN'S COTTAGE INDUSTRIES |
00:42:32:04 | 00:42:36:19 | Sister Teresa | It was on my mind for many years. How can we solve this problem? |
00:42:38:01 | 00:42:41:06 | TITLE | MPEVDS DAIRY CO-OP |
00:42:42:00 | 00:42:46:16 | Sister Teresa | Multinationals were making this product and it required millions in investment. |
00:42:47:08 | 00:42:51:19 | Now I came to know there's one Mr. Muruganantham in Coimbatore | |
00:42:52:04 | 00:42:56:11 | who is able to give us machines that we can afford. | |
00:43:00:20 | 00:43:03:10 | Once the machines came we had a problem. | |
00:43:03:16 | 00:43:08:03 | We don't get eight hours of electricity. At the most we get three hours a day. | |
00:43:08:10 | 00:43:10:13 | Some days we get none. | |
00:43:11:08 | 00:43:16:07 | They've only worked one-third of the shift, no? So it won't be more than 1500 packs. | |
00:43:16:20 | 00:43:22:13 | It should be 2500 in the training period. Then it has to go to 4000 packs a month. | |
00:43:27:23 | 00:43:34:02 | Only then can we reach our business... neither profit nor loss... | |
00:43:35:02 | 00:43:36:24 | Virmani/ Sister Teresa | - Breakeven? - Breakeven. |
00:43:40:24 | 00:43:44:11 | Muruganantham | When I was young, whenever I heard the sound |
00:43:44:19 | 00:43:48:00 | ooo-aaa ooo-aa ooo-aa, I'd be a little afraid. What was it? | |
00:43:48:07 | 00:43:51:04 | My mother said it was an ambulance or fire engine. | |
00:43:51:16 | 00:43:54:22 | Then I learnt that other than ambulances and fire engines | |
00:43:55:01 | 00:43:58:05 | cars used by politicians and officials also have sirens. | |
00:43:58:09 | 00:44:02:15 | Sirens on fire engines or ambulances, maybe it's to save many lives. | |
00:44:02:20 | 00:44:06:18 | Why do politicians need sirens? What's their urgency? | |
00:44:07:14 | 00:44:11:09 | They say they're rushing to do some good for society. | |
00:44:11:17 | 00:44:16:22 | They've rushed for 67 years since independence. What have they done? | |
00:44:17:09 | 00:44:21:13 | Sister Teresa | We have to make a lot of adjustments around this electricity problem. |
00:44:21:24 | 00:44:26:08 | At the unit we've got seven women plus one supervisor. | |
00:44:27:03 | 00:44:30:06 | And they really adjust to the situation. | |
00:44:30:13 | 00:44:33:16 | They get up early and come to work at 6 a.m. | |
00:44:33:21 | 00:44:35:17 | That shows their level of interest. | |
00:44:35:24 | 00:44:39:16 | They really want to learn and commit to this unit. | |
00:44:43:09 | 00:44:46:24 | TITLE | BACISEVA |
00:44:50:19 | 00:44:54:18 | Baciseva | In our village, we don't have electricity. We use kerosene lamps. |
00:44:55:00 | 00:44:57:24 | And nowadays kerosene is too expensive. | |
00:44:58:09 | 00:45:01:09 | TITLE | BAREFOOT COLLEGE TILONIA, RAJASTHAN |
00:45:01:19 | 00:45:05:23 | Baciseva | That's why we were chosen to come to India to learn solar engineering. |
00:45:06:13 | 00:45:12:16 | Us village women, we do domestic work. We just stay at home. | |
00:45:13:02 | 00:45:17:09 | Do the cooking, sweeping, look after the kids, prepare their food. | |
00:45:19:17 | 00:45:25:00 | The men work in agriculture. Some go fishing, and we sell the catch. | |
00:45:26:01 | 00:45:28:21 | That's how we earn money in our country. | |
00:45:32:04 | 00:45:35:21 | Woman 1 / Woman 2 | - You malum (understand)? - Malum. Malum. |
00:45:36:00 | 00:45:38:04 | - This... what's this called? - Multimeter. | |
00:45:38:09 | 00:45:41:00 | - Multimeter malum? - Small malum. Small malum. | |
00:45:43:20 | 00:45:47:17 | Baciseva | Two months ago, our Minister of Women came to visit us from Fiji. |
00:45:48:08 | 00:45:51:04 | She visited the sanitary pad factory. | |
00:45:51:14 | 00:45:55:22 | And she felt us Fiji women should take this course too | |
00:45:56:02 | 00:45:58:23 | because we don't have such a factory in Fiji. | |
00:46:01:19 | 00:46:04:01 | We were so excited. | |
00:46:05:05 | 00:46:08:10 | All nine ladies felt it was so simple to operate the machine. | |
00:46:08:19 | 00:46:13:20 | They can go back to Fiji and open a factory. They can work there as a team. | |
00:46:19:08 | 00:46:22:09 | I hope all of Fiji will be proud of us. | |
00:46:22:24 | 00:46:28:05 | We've trained to make sanitary pads and we're going to start a factory in Fiji. | |
00:46:28:13 | 00:46:32:04 | Fiji is the same as India. Some women don't use sanitary pads. | |
00:46:32:11 | 00:46:37:22 | They just use cloth because the cost of pads nowadays is going up. | |
00:46:45:06 | 00:46:47:20 | Muruganantham | They called me a madman. A pervert. |
00:46:48:11 | 00:46:50:18 | Then suddenly I was in the limelight. | |
00:46:51:19 | 00:46:55:06 | I was continuously seen in newspapers and magazines. | |
00:46:55:18 | 00:46:58:03 | I was live on TV. | |
00:46:58:11 | 00:47:01:17 | Then the same people, with the same tongue | |
00:47:02:08 | 00:47:05:12 | they said, "I always knew this guy would amount to something." | |
00:47:05:23 | 00:47:12:10 | Very importantly, those who concluded they would expel me from the village | |
00:47:13:04 | 00:47:16:18 | they come to my home and ask me to inaugurate temples and so on. | |
00:47:18:02 | 00:47:21:05 | I laugh, but I'm laughing inside my heart. | |
00:47:25:02 | 00:47:28:04 | Sister Teresa | On January 10th we started the training. |
00:47:28:15 | 00:47:31:07 | And we felt the girls are ready | |
00:47:31:23 | 00:47:34:10 | to start the unit. | |
00:47:53:08 | 00:47:57:05 | TITLE | "NAALAM" PRODUCTION UNIT Nadupatty, Tamil Nadu |
00:47:57:14 | 00:48:00:02 | TITLE | Opening ceremony February 14th, 2012 |
00:48:04:07 | 00:48:07:07 | Uma | What did you do when your girls reached puberty? |
00:48:07:14 | 00:48:12:03 | You told them not to go out during their periods. | |
00:48:13:00 | 00:48:16:00 | "Go out after 4 days. " You're looking guilty. | |
00:48:17:15 | 00:48:20:10 | Please don't do that anymore. | |
00:48:38:08 | 00:48:42:23 | Muruganantham | While you were on your way, I was speaking to a venture capitalist. |
00:48:45:14 | 00:48:47:07 | Virmani | Another offer? |
00:48:47:13 | 00:48:51:22 | Muruganantham | Yeah they offered some U.S. dollars. I refused. |
00:48:52:10 | 00:48:57:05 | Left the people wondering. I didn't even show any interest to get money. | |
00:48:57:14 | 00:49:01:09 | I explained what I need. Not money. I told them I need people. | |
00:49:02:06 | 00:49:05:24 | To do social entrepreneurship, we need people. Not money. | |
00:49:06:17 | 00:49:11:04 | I started in order to make a low-cost sanitary pad for my wife. | |
00:49:11:23 | 00:49:12:18 | I did it. | |
00:49:13:09 | 00:49:15:09 | Then I saw poor women like my mother | |
00:49:16:18 | 00:49:19:24 | who were unable to find sustainable rural employment. | |
00:49:20:20 | 00:49:23:15 | So far I've supplied 643 machines | |
00:49:23:19 | 00:49:25:06 | across 23 states in India. | |
00:49:26:17 | 00:49:28:16 | What I'm trying to do now is: | |
00:49:29:00 | 00:49:33:12 | I want to make India a 100% sanitary napkin-using country. | |
00:49:34:00 | 00:49:38:07 | And I want to create not less than one million jobs for poor women. | |
00:49:39:08 | 00:49:42:19 | So my dream, my imagination, keeps expanding like this. | |
00:49:44:05 | 00:49:46:16 | I'm looking through my binoculars at the entire world. | |
00:49:47:03 | 00:49:51:23 | My God! There are hundreds of countries where sanitary napkins aren't accessible. | |
00:49:55:20 | 00:49:58:13 | Now my dream is getting bigger and bigger. | |
00:49:58:20 | 00:50:02:14 | Why not start a world movement in making low cost sanitary pads? | |
00:50:02:20 | 00:50:04:23 | Why not make all developing nations | |
00:50:05:02 | 00:50:07:20 | 100% sanitary pad-using countries? | |
00:50:08:01 | 00:50:10:13 | By the way, why not create 10 million jobs? | |
00:50:11:01 | 00:50:12:21 | Welcome. | |
00:50:13:04 | 00:50:16:09 | It may seem crazy to you. | |
00:50:17:06 | 00:50:19:17 | He's shooting this. | |
00:50:20:07 | 00:50:22:10 | That's my daughter. | |
00:50:23:14 | 00:50:28:00 | Yes, you must be crazy to dream something big. | |
00:50:29:03 | 00:50:31:14 | To achieve something big. That's all. | |
00:50:33:10 | 00:50:37:22 | TITLE | Convinced he wasn't so crazy after all, Muruganantham's wife and mother re-united with him. |
00:50:38:05 | 00:50:42:04 | TITLE | His daughter, Preeti, "will never use a rag to manage her period days." |
00:50:42:12 | 00:50:46:24 | TITLE | In 2009, Muruganatham received a National Innovation Foundation award from the President of India. |
00:50:47:07 | 00:50:49:17 | TITLE | FOR MOTHERS |
00:50:50:14 | 00:51:35:23 | CREDITS |