Introduction
In this modern era of the 21st century, everyone wants to earn and be master of his/her self by entering in various prestigious jobs or even starting their own business. Entrepreneurship is one such option to take your career to the apex of success. They are the only ones whose stories inspire us to follow in their footsteps and, the cause they are working for is helpful for the entire society.
So you might be thinking that what is meant by the word “ENTREPRENEUR”?
An entrepreneur is someone who lays stone for any new venture by their new concepts and ideas. Bearing most of the risks and enjoying the rewards after the success of the enterprise.
ADITI GUPTA, CO-FOUNDER OF MENSTRUPEDIA COMIC
One such inspiring woman entrepreneur is ADITI GUPTA. She is an author and Co-founder of a comic named, Menstrupedia. She did graduation in engineering and has a New Media Design postgraduate degree from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
It is rightly said, that a person learns from his/her own experience. The same case happened with Aditi. During her very young age, when she started menstruating at 12, she was not taught initially about all these natural things that the girl’s body undergoes. She was not allowed to use sanitary napkins available in the market. According to her family, that would risk the dignity. Also, she was not permitted to touch the place of worship and sit on other’s beds even.
So learning from her own experience regarding menstruation, she started with Menstrupedia comic along with her husband to eradicate all the myths and misinformation regarding menstruation existing among the youth. Due to the lack of awareness and education regarding this issue, she motivated herself to undergo research on that particular subject for a complete year. She gathered information from many doctors and, girls that gave her an idea to start this comic book with three girls and a doctor as the main characters. In November 2012, Aditi Gupta along with her husband started Menstrupedia. They put up the books on the website as well.
"There's Always A Scope Of Improvement"
It is mainly a user-friendly guide that helps to provide information on menstruation, hygiene, and puberty, thereby breaking all the myths associated with them. The main aim of this comic is to present the sensitive issue easily and understandably. The comic proves to be highly beneficial in creating awareness in more than 30 schools across the country. The comics are currently available in fourteen languages and have been utilized in 18 countries. She also distributed the comics in schools of Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, and Ranchi, where the initiative was immensely praised by the parents and teachers of many young girls.
She even started several campaigns in collaboration with Whisper India – Touch the Pickle movement in collaboration with many actresses such as Shraddha Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Neha Dhupia, and many more. Then she was listed on the Forbes India U-30 list. Though her work was initially criticized by many people, she received a positive response in very little time. The comics engaged lakhs of young minds across the globe.
Her comics even fascinated many NGOs like Protsahan, Munshi Jagannath Bhagwan Smriti Sansthan, Instincts, Kanha along with two Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh.
Undoubtedly, Aditi Gupta proved to be the real mentor for all the young girls through her comic Menstrupedia. This comic not only improved the lives of many girls. At the same time, it removed all the taboos and barriers that a girl faces, usually, during her menstrual days. Besides facing a lot of criticism, she didn’t look back on ending up with this initiative. But she took a step forward with her husband, who was like a strong pillar of support to her during this innovative startup. She became an entrepreneur.
Aditi Gupta not only inspired many young ladies but motivated them to speak up about their problems. She empowered them to move at the same pace as that man in a so-called male patriarchal society.
: By – Muskaan Sehdev
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