Menstruation and the psyche
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One Acham's sister now lives in Kathmandu. She narrated her experience of menstruation. When she was ill, her mother-in-law used to send her to sleep in the camp during menstruation. When he had to move the water by himself, he used to complain that it splashed, that he got sick from laspas, that he was shivering, that he was not healthy.
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Now he has come to Kathmandu. I have not menstruated. You eat what I cooked. You are not sick. He also did not say that menstruation is bar. Where am Barnewala and now?' She further said, 'When I was in the village, I went to the temple when I was menstruating, I touched Dhamijankri. I also went to the pooja room. I also went to the kitchen when there was no one at home. Nothing happened to anyone! As a thief is punished, so should I be punished if I commit a sin. I am ready to be punished. But I know, menstruation is not a sin.'
There has been a lot of debate about the right or wrong of the tradition that women in Far West have to go to bed and go to bed when they are menstruating. The problem of women who do not menstruate even if there are activities up to the destruction of chaugoth, is the problem of lice. Even those who say that menstruation should not be stopped have not been able to bring about change from their own homes. It does not seem to be able to counter the wrong by raising a loud voice against it. The fear of what others will say if you don't accept menstruation has not gone away. Chhaupadi custom will never go away if we break the chaugoth for two/four days, then don't even look back for years, ignore the problems and changes after the chaugoth is broken.
Even in the neighborhood of Sher Bahadur Deuba, who has been prime minister for five times, this custom has not been removed. During the demolition campaign in my house Achham, I was allowed to sleep in a small room outside on the first floor of the house. At that time, there was a rumor that there would be fines and punishments for sending to Chaugoth, so everyone was on alert. Fearing the police, the woman was allowed to sleep inside the house at that time. However, the members of the house did not get sick, the cows did not stop giving milk, the deity did not get angry, there was no evil in the house, everything went well. When the police stopped, they shouted that they need a camp, they need to build a camp. Now, the compulsions of women who have to go to the camp or sleep outside the house when they are menstruating have been repeated once again.
Men who have returned from working abroad, including India, eat food cooked by other women for thirty days. But wives, sisters, daughters, daughters-in-law are not allowed to enter the house when they are menstruating. If menstruation is normal, shouldn't it be the same everywhere? Are women's periods in the Far West different from others? When will the far westerners understand? Abroad Shouldn't those who come from abroad bring change from their own homes?
It is now more unsafe for women in faraway places to pitch tents outside their homes at night, wrap them in cloths or sleep in tents. Earlier, there were people all over the village, all over the house, during summer, all the members of the house used to sleep in the yard with a wave bed. In this way, the menstruating woman would have less fear. The fear of being bitten by snakes, crocodiles, sexual violence was there before, but now the fear of wild animals like boars and leopards has also increased.
In my neighborhood, there are teachers, government employees, doctors, engineers, police, army, leaders, ministers and representatives of NGOs, INGOs, organizations working in favor of women who have gone abroad. Those who tell others that it is not right to menstruate are the ones who are happy to send their daughters and wives to their homes. The village is now equipped with many facilities. Transport, schools, colleges, hospitals, offices, banks and financial institutions are all there. People have mobile phones in their hands. Due to this, they have been able to understand, speak and write about the changes in the world. However, what is the compulsion to 'prohibit' menstruating women?
Just as you wipe your nose with a handkerchief when you have a cold, you can protect yourself by wearing a pad during menstruation. Isn't this a normal process? It is an injustice to women to have sex under the illusion that something will happen to them. It is necessary to get rid of the mentality that menstruation is a sin from the mind and brain. All conscious citizens should try their best to free women from evil practices like chaupadi.
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