I know you must be wondering that, since the last two days she&rsquo;s bombing us the way India bombed Pakistan with Operation Sindoor. Par kya socha kyu? Toh chalo, let me take you down memory lane&hellip; once upon a time, Cinderella punched the Prince hard in the face, kya hua? Not your regular fairy tale, haina!? That&rsquo;s cause it&rsquo;s not, it&rsquo;s the time when Cinderella was on her period and the Prince annoyed her to the core and the punch? Well, mood swings are real. And she couldn&rsquo;t just hide them. What a disgrace, ughhhh. Fine, fine&hellip; enough drama for today, let&rsquo;s get real.
Periods are not a productivity problem; pretending they aren&rsquo;t painful is. For years, women have been bleeding through deadlines, lectures, and life, smiling like nothing&rsquo;s wrong. But Gujarat&rsquo;s young women are done staying quiet. They&rsquo;re calling out the double standards, and honestly, they&rsquo;re doing it with flair.
Sumaiya Shekhani doesn&rsquo;t mince her words: &ldquo;During my periods, I don&rsquo;t wish to work. I just want to lie down and get all the princess treatments.&rdquo;
Because let&rsquo;s face it, when cramps hit like betrayal, the only thing you deserve is rest (and maybe a hot water bag, a steaming hot biryani, or a soothing steaming bowl of dal chawal, oooh ooh and that sizzling choco lava cake topped with vanilla ice cream and damn that warm chocolate sauce).
But Sumaiya also throws shade at Gujarat&rsquo;s hush-hush culture: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re still not ready. People would rather ignore the topic than talk about it.&rdquo;
And that&rsquo;s the irony. A state that leads in business, innovation, and entrepreneurship suddenly goes mute when the word &ldquo;period&rdquo; drops.
Another student breaks it down with brutal honesty: &ldquo;There should definitely be a day off to rest the body and mind. But what happens instead? We end up doing house chores or errands. That kills the purpose of the leave!&rdquo;
That fellow bleeder is Vagmi Joshi, who, btw, also came with the mic-drop moment every policymaker needs to hear: &ldquo;If she&rsquo;s on her period, that&rsquo;s a problem for society. If she doesn&rsquo;t get her period, that&rsquo;s also a problem. If policymakers understood this one line, every woman&rsquo;s wish would come true.&rdquo;
Gujarat is full of ambition, but when it comes to acknowledging women&rsquo;s biological realities, it&rsquo;s time we match our progress with empathy. Menstrual leave isn&rsquo;t pampering, it&rsquo;s policy with purpose.
So here&rsquo;s the ask, not for pity, not for privilege, but for permission to rest without guilt. It&rsquo;s time Gujarat bleeds with pride, and not silence. And with that, I conclude this piece with three questions for my fellow bleeders&nbsp;
<ol>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;" aria-level="1">
Would menstrual leave help you manage studies or work better during your cycle?
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;" aria-level="1">
Do you think Gujarat is ready to talk about menstruation openly?
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;" aria-level="1">
What would a period-positive campus or office look like to you? 
</li>
</ol>

Young women in Gujarat speak up boldly, raw, and real on why period leave just makes sense

Let My Ben Bleed: Gujarat Needs a Break

Young women in Gujarat speak up boldly, raw, and real on why period leave just makes sense

October 16, 2025 | 18:16 IST