Unless you are living under a rock, you will know about the movie, Pad Man. Akshay Kumar’s movie is a biopic on Arunachalam Muruganantham. Kumar’s promotion for his upcoming film Pad Man, the #PadmanChallenge has not only been embraced by the Bollywood battalion, but fans and followers have also been sharing photos of themselves on all social media platforms.But is this just riding the wave or will change actually be effective? Because period stains is a major problem why girls miss school and here is a product that is made to rectify that. Meet our very own Panty Woman, Deepa from Bengaluru who is doing so much more than just posing with a pad. Deepa, a Telecommunications Engineer, turned entrepreneur and mother of 2 girls, is the Founder CEO of Adira, a brand that makes stain-free period panties.

She realised that this was not the problem of the pads, but that of the panties, that were not designed for periods. To solve this problem of staining, she invented Aditra Period Panties that are leak-proof, breathable & skin-friendly. She has a USA patent for this product. She wants girls and women to stay stain-free and hygienic, and with her period panties, she has impacted lives of over 50,000 girls and women around the world.

Deepa writes about her journey, innovation and why she has called herself the ‘Panty Woman.’ Read on…

Right from my own schooldays, I have observed that even with sanitary pads, we girls still stain during periods. Playing sports, sitting for long class hours, during exams and not having access to proper toilets make pads insufficient. Period stains continue to happen. It is a common practice for girls to ask their friends to ‘check’ their backs to see if there are any stains. This practice remains. I wanted to solve this problem. I just had to.

I wanted girls and women to stay stain-free and hygienic and most importantly STRESS-FREE. I realised that it was not the problem with the pads, but it was the panties that were not designed for periods. So, I invented the Period Panty. I have a USA patent for this product and the patent in India is pending.

The Period Panty is made of 100% cotton so they are Skin-Friendly. They are made with high technology leak-proof material, that makes them leak-proof while being skin-friendly. The fact that any leaks/stains are contained with the panties, it is an hygienic option for girls and women.

With Adira Period Panties, a school girl can sit for a 3 hour exam in a white uniform without worrying. A working woman can travel on a long flight without worrying about staining her seat.

It was just few days ago when I was brainstorming with my social media team, they told that I should be called Panty Woman for all the right reasons.

For past few weeks, the whole of social media has been talking about the movie, Pad Man. Akshay Kumar’s promotion for his movie, a biopic on Arunachalam Muruganantham and the #PadmanChallenge. This Challenge has been embraced by the Bollywood battalion, and their fans and followers have been following suit.

This is an interesting step towards breaking the taboo around Periods and we have been doing that ourselves for the past few years.

Sanitary pads cause a lot of environmental waste. It’s no rocket science to understand and address this issue. 1 in 5 women in India, suffer from Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), where women suffer from irregular periods and can’t predict their period date. Most of them end up using pads (which are super expensive) to stay safe and avoid stains, just in case they get periods. This is uncomfortable and creates excess sanitary waste which is not biodegradable. Using these period panties instead, can save your money and also keep the environment clean. We sell Adira Period Panties on our platform MyAdira.com

I can proudly say that I have impacted lives of over 50,000 girls and women around the world.

Every year during Women’s day, we organise a Period Panty give-away for girls from underprivileged backgrounds. Lat year, we chose two government schools in Bengaluru and distributed period panties for over 500 girls. Our brand also talks about personal hygiene during this event that helps girls look at puberty in a positive way.

Because for me, dealing with periods is much more than just an Instagram challenge.