With Kaala Lifafa, NIFT students want Gujarat to talk about periods

Students of National Institute of Fashion Technology thro-ugh their independent street theatres group Chhaap are trying to get reluctant citizens to talk about menstruation and menstrual hygiene. 

The students who have already performed in Gandhinagar will perform a street play at a mall in the city as well as the popular food truck park.  “The idea is to get people to talk about menstruation and menstrual hygiene. Even today in households, menstruation is rarely mentioned nor does anyone talk about it. This is not just for poor households, even in middle and upper-middle-class homes there is a taboo surrounding it,” said Aarohi Sharma, who is among the 14 students who are part of the play. The play is titled Kaala Lifafa (black cover), a symbolic name that represents the hushed tone in which the subject is dealt with. “Even today, when someone goes to get a sanitary pad from a shop, the chemist will wrap it in black polythene so that no one gets to know what is in it. Our name of the play was inspired by this trend,” said Sharma.

The students, most of whom are from outside Gujarat, perform their plays in Hindi and English. 

“The play is such that people can identify with. There are references to blind beliefs associated with menstruation (eg, menstruating women should not be touched) as well as certain traditions which is discriminatory,” said Sharma. She said the taboo surrounding the topic has meant that many hygiene aspects related to menstruation also never gets discussed.

Nevadit Chaudhary, one of the founders of Chhaap, said the group is performing the play in association with the state health department as well as the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). “ 

This time we chose menstruation because we realised that families don’t talk about it, many women are unaware of the hygiene aspect of it and many men are completely clueless about it,” said Chaudhary. He said the tie-up with government agencies also ensures that they get access to places for performance that can draw a large number of people.