Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has time and again, spoken about how the initiative of empowering women in slums by distributing locally-manufactured sanitary napkins drew her to a Mumbai-based foundation. In fact, she even visited the foundation in 2017 before she married Prince Harry. Now Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu has joined the same NGO in order to spread awareness about menstrual hygiene. Talking about the same, Taapsee told a leading daily, “Even in a regular middle-class household in Mumbai and Delhi, periods are discussed using furtive gestures and awkward eye contact," adding that having periods is common to Meghan Markle, her and every other woman in the world. "With great power comes great responsibility, and if people like her contribute and support this kind of initiative, it widens its reach, as she is in a power position," she was further quoted as saying.
Taapsee added that education about menstrual cycle should be imparted to young children before they reach adolescence, asserting that we need to cut off the awkwardness associated with it. “The first step should be to talk about it, as regular period determines the health of a female. It is because we don’t talk about it, a lot of health hazards are not addressed,” she pointed out. She also revealed in the interaction how she used to ask her mother to get her sanitary pads for the longest time because of the years-old conditioning that nobody has questioned.
Taapsee concluded by saying how Akshay Kumar made a film (PadMan) based entirely on menstruation but it isn't possible to keep making films on menstruation. "A film on this topic is not the only way forward, making it normal in films is probably what’s needed. Talk about period can be incorporated organically, if need be," she signed off.
On the work front, Taapsee was last seen in bilingual psychological thriller, Game Over.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
