Mrs. Abirami Dusshyanth, our founder, had a humble beginning like most of us. Her grandfather started off cleaning buses before he saved enough to start his own modest transportation business. Her father built and developed the business from scratch. Having seen her father work hard as he did, Abirami promised herself to always remember the value of an honest day’s work. As a young woman, she followed her dreams and started her own fashion design business, and succeeded in creating an identity for herself. Even after she married into a renowned, socially well-off family in Tamil Nadu, she strove to keep up her promise to herself and worked hard, and helped those in need around her.
Even though there are 355 million menstruating women in India, a 2014 study revealed that 23 million girls drop out of school due to a lack of menstrual hygiene management facilities, including the availability of sanitary napkins and awareness about menstruation. The report further suggests that the girls, who don’t drop out, usually miss up to 5 days of school every month. Also as a working woman, a social worker volunteering for long hours, and a busy mother, she did not want to worry about changing her pad every 3-4 hours or risking her health. She even saw hard-working women miss out on opportunities or be worried about changing pads when they have important things to do. So she used her time and resources to come up with a better solution that is longer lasting, non-toxic, and safe for the environment.
When our founder came to realize that there could be a solution to this situation, she made it her personal mission to do something that can help these girls stay in school and not give up on their futures. After extensive research, she came up with ‘Honestpad’. She used bamboo charcoal strips to infuse the pads with as that would not only absorb the moisture and keep the area dry for long hours but prevents infections and rashes as well.
Her goal is to educate the next generation on hygienic menstrual practices and increase period awareness among boys and men as well. As a sister to 2 brothers and a mother of 2 boys, she feels it important that men understand the process of menstruation and what women go through so that they can be of support when in need. She believes that this can automatically help de-stigmatize periods and encourage more women to seek the help needed to have a more comfortable period.