Daag acche hain? Ghanta!!

You know those detergent and bar soap ads that they show on TV, where they claim to get rid of ANY kind of stains? Oh you know the ones I’m talking about. The ones where a dirty shirt goes into the washing machine, and a clean, dried, blinding-white, ironed shirt comes out. It has always made me wonder whether there is an ishthri-wala sitting inside their washing machine, who presses the clothes soon as it gets washed and then hands it out.

But how come none of these ads show how to get rid of a period-stain? No, seriously.

Because they still haven’t invented a detergent that can remove period-stain that easily. It can be removed, if you’re ready to scrub for a day. But never easily.

Oh c’mon, don’t tell me none of you girls have had to deal with it! Stop cringing then. Ever since we got our first period, along with words of caution from nosey aunties about having become a ‘big girl’ and hence a baby-machine, monthly doses of cramps etc., staining is also very much a part of a girl’s life. You can’t wear light coloured clothes on those days, you constantly tell your friends to keep checking whether ‘there is anything behind’, you are very conscious while sleeping whether you’ll stain the bed-sheet or not, and no matter how much all these sanitary napkins claim to not twist or dislocate, it will happen eventually. Unless you’re sitting at home in one place all day long.

I still remember wearing white-and-white uniform to school one Saturday. I had got my first period only a month or two before that. That stupid Saturday, we had to sit on the floor for some class. And when I got up, lo and behold, a dark red blotch on my white skirt. That I was in a co-ed school didn’t help matters one bit. I was so embarrassed! I ran to the bathroom and asked one of my friends to pin up my skirt with a safety pin in a way that’ll cover up the stain. Thankfully it was the last class of the day, and I hurried to the school bus and sat in the front, so that I won’t have to pass many people while getting down at my stop.

There was this girl in my class who had got her period a month previously, and she got it again after a couple of weeks (the first couple of cycles can be pretty irregular, I’ve heard). She panicked that she had got it again so soon and didn’t tell her mom about it. Instead, she came to school, on a Saturday wearing white uniform, without putting a napkin. By the second period (the class, not the cycle), it was like a crime scene on her back-side. And you know how guys are, right? They ask exactly those questions that we don’t want to answer. Especially when they know the answer themselves! These are 7th standard boys we’re talking about. Almost reaching puberty, and curious as hell about girls. So finally, this girl got all teary-eyed because all the guys were staring at her (well, at her skirt, to be precise). The teachers called her mom to come pick her up, and she was packed off home.

I used to be very careless when I was younger about staining. I mean, I never used to be bothered about it. And Amma used to hiss at me to be more careful, because it was getting to be a pain when we visited others’ homes. :/ (Damn, I’m still embarrassed by it). I’m more careful about it. But I know I will never be confident enough to wear white jeans or skirts or salwars, or sleep flat on my back during my chums. Heck, I don’t even like visiting others’ houses at that time. I’ll always have it at the back of my mind that I might end up staining their bed-sheets. I would die of shame then! :/

Maybe we should invite one of those detergent companies to our homes (they have those campaigns na, where they barge into random people’s toilets and clean them. What fun), and instead of giving them curry-stained or dirt-stained dress, we should give them a period-stained dress. If they can clean it, then I will agree that it definitely is the best detergent in the world. Yes, I will even ignore the fact that they hide isthri-walas inside their washing machines.

P.S 1:- To the male readers of DOV, stop cringing and judging. Just keep in mind that you will also get married (or not) one day and will have to live with a girl, who will gets her chums every month and you’ll just have to put up with all the mood swings and cramps and what-not’s. Oh all the best with that, by the way.

P.S 2:- I’m so sorry I haven’t been more regular with my posting here. Was going through a writing-slump. But I’ve been around and reading all the posts religiously. Will definitely try to be more regular!