Lakshmi Murthy was just a teenager when she staged her first act of defiance. Her grandmother, deeply rooted in traditional beliefs, handed her a list of rules to follow during her period. In response, Lakshmi did something unexpected—she sat on her grandmother’s lap and teased, “Will you have to take a bath again now?”
That moment, seemingly lighthearted, became the spark that set Lakshmi on a lifelong journey of breaking taboos, shattering stigmas, and redesigning the way India approaches menstrual health. Today, at 64, she is known as the ‘Pad Grandma’—a title she wears with pride as a pioneer in sustainable menstruation and grassroots innovation. Her tireless efforts have touched the lives of countless women across rural India, and in recognition of her impact, she was recently honored with the prestigious ‘Pride of NID’ award by President Droupadi Murmu.
An Unlikely Path to Design
Lakshmi’s path to design and activism was anything but conventional. Born into an orthodox Karnataka family, she grew up in Mumbai, where she spent her teenage years battling societal norms—insisting on wearing trousers, keeping short hair, and ultimately, pursuing a diploma at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. “My mother opposed it because it was only a diploma course back then,” she recalls.
At NID, she specialized in ceramic design, believing she would spend her life making pottery. But destiny had other plans. She met her late husband, a Rajasthani agricultural engineer, and after graduation in 1986, moved to Udaipur—a city where her modern attire and progressive ideas clashed with deep-rooted traditions.
“There were many challenges. Connectivity was poor. The patriarchy was stifling. People called me bhabhiji, didi, or Lakshmiji. They didn’t understand my work,” she shares.
Despite these barriers, her liberal in-laws, especially her mother-in-law, who worked in education, proved to be a pillar of support. However, with no opportunities in ceramic design, Lakshmi pivoted—organizing artist camps, supporting artisans, and eventually working with the NGO Seva Mandir to create visual communication tools for rural communities.
Sketching Menstruation into the Picture
Lakshmi’s first brush with menstrual health came while designing training materials for non-literate communities. She realized the visuals she created didn’t resonate. “Those who haven’t been to school have a completely different way of drawing. So, I created a picture dictionary on menstruation, abortion, and delivery,” she explains. This work earned her a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2000, and in 2001, she co-founded Jatan Sansthan with Dr. Kailash Brijwasi.
From Nada Wala Pads to Uger: A Revolution in Cloth Menstrual Products
Lakshmi’s first menstrual product design was a simple, washable cloth napkin called the ‘nada wala’ pad—a pad with cloth ties for girls who didn’t wear underwear. “It could be stitched from old petticoats or saris,” she recalls. But as more rural women started wearing underwear, her design faded.
Then came ‘Uger’—meaning ‘new beginning’ in Mewari—one of India’s first reusable menstrual pad initiatives. Designed in 2011 during her PhD at IIT Bombay, the Uger pad was entirely biodegradable, lasted three months, and cost just Rs 180 for a set of six. But Lakshmi made a radical decision: she refused to copyright it. “Many Self-Help Groups (SHGs) have copied the pad. We helped four SHGs in Northeast India set up units. The Aditya Birla Group runs a unit in Maharashtra. Mitu Foundation in Bengaluru makes it too,” she says with pride.
Fighting the Disposable Pad Wave
Despite her success, Lakshmi faced a formidable opponent—free disposable pads distributed in schools across Rajasthan. “On one hand, it’s a rights and convenience issue. But on the other, it’s a huge environmental problem. In rural areas, there’s no proper disposal system,” she laments. Even supposedly compostable pads weren’t truly biodegradable.
Transforming Conversations on Menstruation
Jatan Sansthan’s impact has been massive. Over the past five years, it has reached 1,05,000 individuals, including 10,000 boys and young men, working with 75 organizations across India. During COVID, in collaboration with WaterAid, Jatan trained 78,753 frontline workers in Madhya Pradesh to stitch their own cloth pads remotely.
Lakshmi also pioneered the ‘Positive Masculinity’ program, where boys learned about menstruation and even cooked meals to break gender stereotypes. “We wanted boys to understand the changes in the female body. It was very powerful,” she says.
A Lifelong Learner: Pursuing a PhD at 50
In her 50s, Lakshmi’s alma mater, NID, officially equated her diploma to a postgraduate degree, allowing her to enroll in a PhD at IIT Bombay. Over eight years, she studied sustainable menstrual management, creating the PASS model—Paryavaran (Environment), Arthik (Economics), Swasthya (Health), and Samaj (Society). “A menstrual product must be sustainable from all these angles,” she explains.
Recognition and Legacy
Lakshmi’s contributions have been widely recognized:
- ‘Pride of NID’ Award (2024)
- ‘Women of Substance Award’ by Aravali Foundation (2022)
- Goonj Award for keeping Uger in the ‘Copy Left’ Space (2019)
- Pune Innovation Centre Social Innovation Recognition (2018)
- Australia CSC Meritorious Commendation Award (2009)
Today, she mentors young designers at her studio, Vikalpdesign, where urban artists collaborate with rural communities to create meaningful communication tools. Her NGO, Jatan Sansthan, continues to train women, SHGs, and organizations in menstrual health and sustainable product design.
A Future in Good Hands
Now living with her 91-year-old mother, daughter, and grandson, Lakshmi has rekindled her love for ceramics and joined a book club. As for the future of menstrual health, she remains hopeful. “Many young people are doing tremendous work. I’m happy the movement is in good hands.”
As for disposable pads? “They’ll sit in landfills for years,” she says. “Period panties are popular, but they’re not biodegradable. It’s like choosing between noodles and chapatis—Maggi is quick and easy, but there’s always a trade-off.”
Spoken like a true designer—balancing function, sustainability, and impact, one pad at a time.