Faizan Ahmad
Srinagar September 29 (KINS): Since childhood, Nazish Mir, 28, a Kashmiri girl, saw her mother having rashes during periods due to usage of plastic laden pads. After completing her bachelor’s in Business Management, she started her own company in 2019, manufacturing biodegradable sanitary pads along with two more partners. She named it ‘LAIQA’ pads, which she says are different from other commercial pads and are safe.
“I started researching menstrual products that are being used across the world. I found that Kashmiri women have been using plastic laden pads, which cause aches, rashes and infections. My mother and I faced the same. So I founded LAIQA where we manufacture biodegradable sanitary pads with minimum usage of plastic to comfort the women,” Mir told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).
She asked the Kashmiri women to break the stigma attached to menstrual periods. “When I was in school, I was reluctant to speak about periods. When I used to have periods, my mother would tell my father I have pain in my belly and I won’t go to school. We would not discuss this thing in our home. Even when I started this company, my mother would tell me what I would tell my relatives that I manufacture sanitary pads. It was not easy for a Kashmiri girl to start a sanitary pads manufacturing company in a society where it is taboo to talk about periods. But I moved on. Now my family is providing me full support,” she said.
At present 11 people are associated with this company and she said she is earning good revenue.
Mir asked the Kashmiri women to embrace the periods and not shy away from talking about periods. “Girls should talk about periods with their family members. There is nothing wrong with it. We have put information about periods on our website,” she said.
She asked Kashmiri women not to remain behind and become entrepreneurs. “They are doing well in every business then why can’t they talk about periods or manufacture sanitary pads,” she added.
The Kashmiri girl has also decided to manufacture several other women related products like tampons and menstrual cups. (KINS)
