Chhaupadi

A Poem — A Nepali girl’s questions about her menstrual hut

Papa, what has changed?

why it has changed?

am I not your sweetie anymore?

just had this freaking moment in the school,

where something happened,

not sure what,

but my bare legs were painted red. Am I sick?

my friends mocked me,

for having these unknown stomach cramps.

never had this uncontrolled irritation,

also never this discrimination.

So, Mama had some answers,

but only some of them,

she told it’s normal and completely natural,

it’s my ability to create a family,

to help the world continue to grow,

a sign I’m healthy and thriving to bear,

the world’s needs.

Papa, am I not your sweetie anymore?

But, how come?

nobody in school knew this?

they thought I was sick?

or I was impure?

I was not to be touched?

and not to be cared for?

If it’s natural,

why this chaos?

my house is supposedly not mine anymore,

mom said I can’t enter my room,

not even the kitchen,

I have to live in the nearby hut,

for at least two weeks.

With eyes full of tears,

and a heart full of fears,

I asked Mom. Why?

she had no answers.

Papa, can I ask you?

Do you have answers?

I’m sick and just want to lay down,

but I have a bed of paddy straw,

it smells like a cowshed,

it’s itchy and it’s cold,

haven’t you heard about it?

this hut being a death call?

it supposedly engulfed many daughters,

and tortured many more mothers.

I don’t want to sleep “on their dead body”,

neither I want to choke on “the quiet killer”,

nor I want to be bitten by a snake,

nor I want to be a victim of a rape scene,

if I’m luckily alive and unhurt,

I’ve to walk for 2 hours,

to go to the river,

where I can wash “my sins”.

Author’s Note: Chhaupadi is practiced mostly in the western part of Nepal. Women and girls are usually banned from the house, normal activities and kitchen. Access to sanitary and washing facilities is usually restricted. This superstition is physically and psychologically affecting girls and women, when not killing them. There are cases, where young girls and women died of CO poisoning, snake-bite, refused medical care and cold-related illness. It is outlawed since 2005 and in 2017, a bill has been passed to punish the people, who force menstruating women into exile.

In most of the cases, women are against it. It’s because it has been practiced by their mothers and grandmothers and they don’t know it differently. But it can never be eradicated unless they are educated and empowered.

However, this is much more sensitive than only the literacy problem. There is an intersection of religious practice and illiteracy.

Learn more about “Chhaupadi” in this documentary from The New York Times.

Some of my other poems:

Anish Lamichhane is a medical doctor from Germany. He has his interests in medical oncology (cancer medicine), psychiatry (mental health medicine), palliative care and digitalization of health care. He likes to present health stories and stories about social customs in a non-traditional way with poetry and health education pieces. All his articles are his personal expressions. Please consult your health care providers for direct professional medical recommendations.

Published here: https://healthandpoem.blogspot.com/2019/11/chhaupadi.html