MY MASTERS' THESIS RESEARCH
Menopause awareness in India - self awareness of perimenopausal women, their families, stakeholders and medical practitioners
November 2022
Though menopause is a life process that happens to nearly half of the global population, awareness and support for those going through it is slim. During my study conducted on lived menopause experiences in India, gaps in menopause health infrastructure were brought to the fore. This podcast episode features a recent conversation between Bangalore based gynaecologist Shaibya Saldanha and I during which the gender biases of India’s medical system, rise in unwarranted hysterectomies and need for menopause counselling were discussed.
Reclamation Magazine - November 2021
Through qualitative interviews with menopausal and postmenopausal people, one of my study’s aims is to study the Indian societal perception of menopause. One woman’s narrative of receiving zero family support during her menopause stuck with me. I wrote a poem about my perception of the irony of her life — one where she took care of everyone out of a passion for family values but when she needed to be taken care of the most, she realised her passion had been viewed as an obligation.
WORLD MENOPAUSE DAY MUSINGS OF A MENOPAUSE RESEARCHER
Brown Girl Magazine - October 2021
As a young Indian woman, the concept of keeping women’s health personal is not new to me. It was only during my study that I realised that shame does not just sink in — it grows and it festers and pushes the narrative of being a “strong independent woman.” The inability to ask and receive support becomes a point of pride because the heaviness is too much to bear, for a 10-year-old and for a 50-year-old. Hidden pads and quite literally stomaching the pain have become the Indian schoolgirl’s mantra. It had been my mantra.
And then I spoke to thirty women and realised that menstruation’s silence makes for difficult menopauses too.
TheLifeOfScience - October 2021
In honour of 18th October being #WorldMenopauseDay2021, Labhopping member Aishwarya Viswamitra takes us behind one aspect of her Masters' thesis research that looks into lived experiences of menopause in India. Is the medical system menopause-friendly?