Gaurav Sharma

My daughter lost her job today. I knew this was coming but could do little to help her. It really came as a surprise when her class teacher said. "Since we have moved on to online classes now, we no longer need a class monitor, I wish you all the best for your future endeavors"

"Babuji, please buy this pen. It's only ₹20", the beggar at the signal pleaded I was in no mood for this. All I wanted was the signal to turn green quickly to save myself from this awkwardness. "Dad, these are nice colorful pencils, please buy them for me," My daughter insisted. "But I dont have change, I only have this 500 rupee note" I replied, feeling a headache coming on. "No problem, I will bring the change for you" Beggar countered He took the note, ran towards the nearby shops and vanished in the crowd. 'There goes my ₹500 rupee. I should stop giving gyaan on LinkedIN when I myself cannot make smart financial decisions' I kept on thinking as I watched the countdown to green signal. Soon, it was green and I had no choice but to accelerate. Suddenly out of nowhere, I saw the guy approaching. He gave me my ₹480 rupees change and said "Dont worry Babuji, I am not HR. I always "get back".

"Hi Gaurav, I am having severe cramps due to my periods and would request leave for the rest of the day" I felt both awkward and anxious on getting this whatsApp message in the middle of the meeting from my team mate. Having worked with many female colleagues in the past, this was the first time for me to receive such specifics. " Sure, go ahead and take rest" I replied. When we met the next day, I was trying not to bring that up. " Hey, thanks for the approval yesterday " she said " No problem, hope you are feeling better today. Also, going forward, you don't need to mention the details, just say you are not feeling well and that should be sufficient " I replied " Actually, I don't hesitate mentioning about periods and that's why I specifically typed about it, I don't think anyone should feel shy speaking about it" And that's where it struck me. There is nothing wrong with the mention of periods. It's a regular female body function and talking about it should never be "awkward". Had it been (God forbid) flu, dengue or covid, I wouldn't have asked her not to mention it. From a female perspective,yes periods are messy and painful. Yet they endure it all by themselves, hiding their pain, curbing their frustration but mostly staying silent on the matter. Why? Because we as a society have made it a taboo to even mention it. It's high time talking about periods is normalised and one should be used to it. I learnt my lesson that day, hopefully others would follow soon. (Archives) #menstrualhealth #officeetiquettes