Padyatra

Lunch time is the high point of Mondays. The girls are eager to beat the proverbial Monday blues by converging at the lunch table in the office cafeteria to recount their weekend activities and, possibly, to relive their holiday moments. After all, half the satisfaction of an enjoyable experience lies in the re-telling of it!

The food is best on Mondays — leftovers from Sunday lunches or parties, in case anyone had entertained. As per tradition, we heated our food and settled down to dig into each other’s tiffins. Then I asked the inevitable question: “So! What did you girls do over the weekend?”

Mandy: Went for a nice cycling trek to Kasauli with the family.

Monica: I just stayed home and binge watched Narcos on Netflix. 

Shobha: I had a hectic weekend! We had my cousin and her clan over from Mumbai and I spent the whole time in planning menus, cooking, eating and drinking.

Monica: Ah! That explains this amazing biryani! Did your cousin tell any Bollywood gossip, BTW?

Shobha: Yaar, just because she’s from Mumbai doesn’t mean she’s privy to Bollywood gossip! But she did tell me something quite interesting!

Mandy: About which star?

Shobha: It’s not about a filmstar. It’s about a thing. She told us about a sanitary pad vending machine installed in a coach of Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani Express.

Me: Wow! Cool!

Shobha: It seems you can get a pad on the train for Rs 5. 

Mandy: Apparently, they’ve installed an automated sanitary napkin dispenser even at the Bhopal Railway Station. You can get 2 pads for Rs 5. They call it the ‘Happy Nari’.

Me: Hilarious name! 

Mandy: But it is a tiny step towards making the naris happy, though it’s taken them time to wake up to the fact that women menstruate. They should install them in more public places. It’s just horrid when you unexpectedly start your period!

We all chorused our agreement.

Shobha: Vaise, I was reading that Kerala has taken the decision to install pad-dispensing machines in 150 government schools. Evidently, a large percentage of girls were dropping out of school when they started menstruating.

Me: And it’s good they’re considering affordable pricing. Many women just can’t afford STs that you get in the market and have to use old cloth and even newspaper!

Mandy: Horrible! But you must admit that Akshay Kumar’s movie did a lot to spread the awareness! 

Shobha (laughing): For you Mandy, anything that Akshay does is the best!

Mandy: Well, OK, name one more film other than Padman that even has a passing reference to pads! 

We were all set thinking!

Monica: I got it! 

Mandy: Which one? 

Monica: PAD-mavat!

All of us: Ai hai Monica! PJ Queen!