#LetsTalkPeriods: ‘My Most Embarrassing Journey With a Stain’

Blood bath during a meeting? Your favourite white pants and a trickle of red?We asked you to share your most crazy, upsetting, awkward stories with us. Thank you for your responses! Here are some of your stories below.Keep these stories coming! Drop in a mail at fit@thequint.com.‘My Father Was My Biggest Support Through My Battle with PCOS’(Akanksha shared her story of battling PCOS and her supportive father.)I suffer from PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. I was first diagnosed with PCOS when I was in Class 9 and I have seen the worst of periods.I remember an incident very clearly. I had bled for 2 months continuously and I became very weak. Pretty much every day there would be blood stains on my bed sheets and my parents would change them.I love my father for what he did for me. He never made me feel bad about what was happening, he supported me and treated it like any other problem.He would take me for my doctor appointments and my mother and sisters lend their love and support.Unfortunately, we still live in a society where even the word ‘period’ is a stigma.My neighbours would visit us at home showing concern but the advice they gave was full of misinformation.We need to see menstruation for what it is - the fight has to be about education and hygiene.#IBleedProudly(Richa wrote to us about her terrible experience in a Metro)"Ye un dino ki baat hai jab pads... aur bhi bisfotak hote the... Ghatak hote the!! "It happened to me when I was in my first job.My dates were never regular. Due to fluctuation of dates, periods often caught me unawares. I was traveling in the Metro when I suddenly realised I was bleeding. It must have been a gush because people were suddenly staring at me in disgust. I realised I had a big blood stain on my tunic.I tried to hide that stain till I reached office with the help of my sling bag.But what upset me the most was the lack of support and empathy I got from other women. I remember when I was making my way to the ladies toilet, women were running away from me like I was a zombie.It didn’t end there!As I was making my way through another metro station a boy came from behind and said, “eeeeuuuuu... Plz move fast it stinks...!!"I finally found my voice. I turned around and told him, “It’s because we bleed, you men even exist. This stain is proof of my ability to make men like you.”I left the place in much pain but I can't forget how everyone reacted, how uncomfortable I was made to feel and how even the women didn’t step up.#IBleedProudly #ICanCreateALife #ProudToBeWoman'My Most Embarrassing Journey!'(Rosita shared with us her longest journey home with a big stain)So I'll directly start with what I faced or went through 5 years ago.I was at college then, waiting for my practicals to begin in a few minutes and I realised my period had sneaked up on me. I asked my female friend (mind you, I was studing in a mechanical engineering college and had just 4 girls in class!) to accompany me to the washroom.On the way, she told me that I was bleeding a lot and the red marks were very visible, thanks to my beige pants! I was freaking out didn’t know what to do.My friend suggested I go home. However much I wanted to attend the practicals, I had to leave.Going home was going to be another task. I had to walk from my classroom through the campus, catch a rickshaw and reach the railway station. And then travel by train for another thirty minutes, get down and take another rickshawto reach home. Phew!How was I going to do all this with dirty pants?!So I chose to hide my ‘embarrassment’ by tying a stole around my waist, like one usually does on beach wear, and started ‘My Most Embarrassing Journey!’Hell of an experience, I tell you!A glimpse into the hidden struggles that women go through!Have a period story to share? Write to us at fit@thequint.com.

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#LetsTalkPeriods: ‘My Most Embarrassing Journey With a Stain’

Do you have a period story to share? Drop in a mail at fit@thequint.com

‘My Father Was My Biggest Support Through My Battle with PCOS’

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