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The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

bbc.co.uk

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Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#11

Post by hedges »

While pursuing his entrepreneurial dream, he walked around asking women for their used sanitary pads (while most men struggle to ask for a date), almost gets tied to a tree when a witch doctor incites the local villagers against him, has his wife leave him (only to come back after his success), and even his mother abandoned him; still he goes on.

And then, even after having practically everyone around him ostracize and abandon him, he doesn't go for the money, but remains humble and does the best he can to make the world a better place.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#12

Post by arjn »

NathanOsullivan wrote: post #5

So after all that he managed to lower the price from £0.04 to £0.025 ... is that a meaningful reduction?

For a poor family in India (and there are many), the short answer is "yes".

For a longer answer you may want to consider the personal and social hurdles he had to overcome and that not all gains are measured in money.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#15

Post by lnanek2 »

NathanOsullivan wrote: post #5

So after all that he managed to lower the price from £0.04 to £0.025 ... is that a meaningful reduction?

Well and people are making them locally in their villages and colleges instead of buying international, and mostly women at that. I know American cities that are always struggling to keep mom and pop shops alive vs. the big boxes. Meanwhile everyone says Japan's only hope to keep their labor pool growing against their greying population is to start getting women involved. So he pulled off something America and Japan are struggling with.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#16

Post by pja »

NathanOsullivan wrote: post #5

So after all that he managed to lower the price from £0.04 to £0.025 ... is that a meaningful reduction?

I wonder if that was 4 rupees in 1998, vs 2.5 rupees now? According to an online inflation calculator, 1 rupee in 1998 is worth 4 rupees now, so the difference would be more like 16:2.5.

Perhaps someone could check an online Indian Amazon equivalent, not that such a place would be available to rural women anyway, but it would give a lower baseline.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#17

Post by arjn »

primitivesuave wrote: post #6

> He believes that big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas he prefers the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," he says. What a profound and inspiring worldview.

Indeed. Here's another one :

"Luckily I'm not educated," he tells students. "If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future."

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#18

Post by lostlogin »

arjn wrote: post #12
NathanOsullivan wrote: post #5

So after all that he managed to lower the price from £0.04 to £0.025 ... is that a meaningful reduction?

For a poor family in India (and there are many), the short answer is "yes". For a longer answer you may want to consider the personal and social hurdles he had to overcome and that not all gains are measured in money.

To add to your answer, the article mentioned his mother on $1 per day with 4 kids. I suspect any reduction in price matters.
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