Arunachalam Muruganantham

I never thought someone would make a film on my story.

The most difficult thing is changing people's mindset.

To break the age-old taboos and to see girls and women use pads was a difficult task.

I'm ecstatic to be known as pad man, as it makes a difference to women's lives.

When I work in the remotest villages, it reminds me of who I am... India is not built on 14 metros and 100 cities. It's made up of 600,000 villages.

You can send women to the Moon or Mars later. First, provide sanitary pads to them.

My life is a brave one. I didn't put any restrictions.

I am the son of a hand-loom weaver. I have a connection with yarn. I thought, 'Why not try to make an affordable sanitary pad for my wife?'

I may fail today, but if I have another idea tomorrow, maybe it will work.

My argument is that there is already an automated machine to make pads. What I did - I reverse-engineered it to 'simple.' Anyone who wants to compete will have to come out with a simpler machine.

I know that if I had got educated, I might have ended up as a call-center employee.

The government should include menstrual hygiene in the curriculum.

Nobody in the society will talk about menstruation... it's a taboo in my country. That's why I'm branded by society as a psycho.

My nature is such that even if I failed 9,999 times, I'll attempt for the 10,000th time again.

I have not hung a single award on my walls, including the Padma Shri.

What kept me going was my desire to provide a hygiene product for my wife.

Wherever I went and spoke about menstrual hygiene, I was beaten up by people. I used to cover my cheeks with both my hands whenever I went to speak on the subject, so how could I ever imagine that someone would make a film on such a topic?

There should be awareness on menstrual hygiene among men as well.

Quality napkins are made in villages at a cost of just Rs 2 per piece with my simple and cost-effective machines.

The taboo regarding menstruation exists across the world, even among the educated.

'Padman' was about my early life and struggles, including my wife calling me a psycho and leaving me.

Every father, brother, and husband should know about menstruation. It is not just about women; it is about men, too.

Social entrepreneurship is like a butterfly, sucking honey from a flower, but the flower won't die. They're helping the flower to make pollination.

I didn't take the money route because I saw my parents struggle for survival.

The world has a shortage of solution providers. Everybody want to be in the 'Forbes' list.

It took me eight years of trial and error to design the machines that would make low-cost pads: just Rs 2 each, compared to those made by the MNCs that are priced anywhere above Rs 6 to Rs 100.

When I tell a foreign audience that 90 per cent of Indian women have no access to sanitary napkin, there is a visible disbelief. But there is hardly a ripple when I say the same thing to an Indian crowd.

When I speak a serious subject in an informal and humorous way, it has bigger impact. So much so, when BBC made a small documentary, they first thought of having a voiceover for me. The producer liked my English so much, he said they were retaining my original voice.

Every year, in our country, we churn out more job seekers rather than job creators. We have to look at new business models, identify a problem, and work on a solution for the same. Today, the machines I have created have provided employment to many women in the rural areas across the country. Why can't youngsters follow suit?

Even if I can take sanitary napkins to 10% of the poor women in India, it will be big achievement.

There were offers from a few Bollywood filmmakers, but I was sceptical as to whether those films will do justice to my vision or even my life. I was also apprehensive because what if I sign an agreement and give the rights to some filmmaker, and he shelves the project?

I always say, 'Be near science and technology, and you will never fail.'

Most of the students whom I have lectured were inquisitive to learn and contribute towards my vision. So, the youth who want to achieve in life can do a lot for society.

My plea is that don't wait for a girl to become a woman to empower them. Empower a girl's life by giving sanitary pads to them. With pads, we give them wings.

Why buy sanitary napkins from multinationals when we can make them at home and generate employment?

I converted a problem into an opportunity.

India and other developing nations need non-farm sector activity. So what we are doing, we are giving small microbusiness to the rural women, especially the farmers' wives.

I am becoming a solution provider. I'm very happy. I don't want to make this as a corporate entity. I want to make this as a local sanitary pad movement across the globe.

There are two kinds of students: those who study and work to survive, while others who want to be achievers.

My wife was gone, all other girls failed to cooperate, so I decided to wear a pouch of animal blood myself and test out my pads by wearing them myself. The discomfort I felt for those five days cannot be explained in words; I bow to every woman on earth for going through this every month.

We keep discussing nuclear power and other issues, but we should spare a thought to the basic needs of our women.

The choice is yours: Do you want to exist, or do you want to live?

A lot of people making a lot of money, billion, billions of dollars accumulating. Why are they coming for, finally, for philanthropy? Why the need for accumulating money, then doing philanthropy? What if one decided to start philanthropy from the day one?

If you chase a girl, the girl won't like you. Do your job simply, the girl will chase you.

I had been getting queries from regional filmmakers to do a movie based on my work. But I did not want my work and mission - to create awareness on menstrual hygiene - to be restricted to only a part of the country. In fact, I wanted to do the movie in Hollywood.

The strong creation created by God in the world is not the lion, not the elephant, not the tiger - the girl.

I have been working in north Indian villages, so I know the truth. Compared to the south Indian states, north India is less developed, and there's little awareness on menstrual hygiene.

I suffered a lot when I tried to make sanitary napkins and promote the idea. My family - including my mother and wife - deserted me. Villagers even tied me to a tree and beat me. But after seeing me successful now, they come and say that they all knew that I would become famous one day.

My wife gone, my mum gone, ostracised by my village. I was left all alone in life.

Imagine: I got patent rights to the only machine in the world to make low-cost sanitary napkins - a hot-cake product. Anyone with an MBA would immediately accumulate the maximum money. But I did not want to. Why? Because from childhood, I know no human being died because of poverty - everything happens because of ignorance.