“This is my best friend,” she said smiling, as she watered the sapling in her garden. “I planted it last month on my 14th birthday. My mother says this young sapling resembles my cheerful exuberance. Mom is never wrong, you know.”

A few months later, an unusual Sunday compelled her to dissolve her magnificent smile beneath an enigmatic face. Little did she know that the menstrual myths prevalent in her society would choke her with tears of both mental and physical pain.

“Do not touch the plant,” her mother hollered. “You are impure right now, you stupid girl, the plant will die!” Hearing her mother’s hoarse voice filled with anger for the first time, she went back to her room.

It was difficult to understand why her mom had yelled at her. But as she drenched her pillow with tears, she asked herself repeatedly, “Why am I impure?”

The menstrual myths prevalent in parts of our society lead us to believe that a woman’s body is cursed, impure or polluted when she is having her period. These beliefs are one of the major factors that lower the self-esteem of a woman and opportunities of growth. These deep rooted taboos create a huge mental and psychological impact on our women. Unable to sleep without watering the plant, she tiptoed to her garden. She whispered to the plant, “You are my best friend after all, you will never die if I touch you! Will you?” She soon regretted her action and cursed herself as she returned to her room. Her mom could never be wrong, and the plant was sure to die, she thought to herself. Having one’s period is a blessing, and girls should be guided to embrace it. No, we are not impure while we are having our period.

The pickle doesn’t turn sour when we touch it. God doesn’t become indignant when menstruating women pray to him, and surely, a plant doesn’t die if we touch it. This time, the little girl’s mother was wrong. She was one of those dogmatic people who consider menstruation to be too disgusting to be discussed openly, and had made the little girl feel guilty of something without substance. Years went by, and the girl grew into a young woman. She still remembered how her mother had smouldered with anger for having touched the plant when she had her period for the first time. But she could never hold back from looking after the sapling during such days. With time, the plant grew along with the girl for her to see it turn into a blossoming tree. The girl, unknowingly, broke the barriers of conventional beliefs. Let us not forget that we are creations of God. He has bestowed upon us women the incredible ability to give birth to another life. Menstruation is a blessing, and not something which should be regarded as unholy.