Not every day do we get to see entrepreneurs who start their journey to make a change. A change that could actually help solve a real problem for millions of people. Such an entrepreneur is Aditi Gupta.

Aditi’s small initiative helped thousands of girls get an education about something Indians don’t like to talk about openly, even today.  

Moment of inspiration 

By means of an Indian conservation family belief – a woman, during her menstrual period is prohibited to enter the kitchen or the place of worship. She is not allowed to cook or do various chores even at her own house.  

While how absurd this sounds, it’s a very common belief in the majority of rural and definite urban areas in India.  

Born and brought up in a very small city of Jharkhand in India, Aditi got her first period at the age of 12. Even at that tender age, she had to sleep in a separate area in her house, wash her clothes separately, and wasn’t allowed to participate in any worship-related activity, every time she got her period.  

That’s what Aditi wanted to change with her small yet effective initiative – Menstrupedia. 

Aditi started Menstrupedia, a Hindi comic book with her husband Tuhin Patel in 2012. The whole idea behind that comic was to create awareness and knowledge about menstruation and hygiene.  

Notable success 

Within two years since the inception of Menstrupedia, Aditi was listed in the Forbes 20 under 20 list for her commendable job in breaking the taboos related to menstruation in India.  

By now Menstrupedia has educated over 10,00,000 girls and trained 10,000+ educators to spread awareness about puberty, menstruation, and hygiene.