Padman

They call him Pad man.

His real name is Arunachalam Muruganantham.

An inspiration, why?

Let me tell you his story. He was “little educated”. He wasn’t uneducated nor was he educated from a distinguished place.

His lifestyle was humble. Not poverty-stricken. Not middle class. A working man.

One day, he noticed that his wife was using a dirty rag when she was menstruating.

Wondering why she didn’t use sanitary pads; he later discovered that they would need to sacrifice the milk budget. Milk is more important than sanitary health.

Instead of complaining or lobbying against the high prices. Like an entrepreneur, he sought to fix the problem.

He researched how sanitary pads were made. Founds means of producing his own at a much lower cost.

He was even able to get laypeople to operate the machines.

He even went as far as the test the product by carrying a bladder full of animal blood.

His wife and people around him thought he was crazy. They weren’t willing to try his product.

He had to approach the local female medical students to try his product. His wife left him because he thought he was “going behind” the female medical students (i.e. having an affair).

Muruganantham’s pursuit proved successful.

Large companies offered large sums of money for these patents and ideas.

But he refused.

He refused to “cash-out” because that went against his values.

If a large company bought him out, then they would simply increase the costs of sanitary pads, and the problem that he intended to solve would become a problem again.

He is a hero in my book because he saw a problem and found a solution. And the problem wasn’t anything revolutionary or new.

He didn’t have a yearning to fly to Mars or be the most customer-centric company in the universe. He simply found a problem - expensive sanitary pads and made a more affordable alternative.

He stayed true to this value, refusing riches. Instant success with money wasn’t the motivating factor. It was to provide a positive contribution to society.

Another point is that he gives a TED talk, where he mentions at the end, that he didn’t need a fancy education to do what he did. He ends his talk by mentioning that there are three types of people. Those who have no education, those who are “little educated” and those who are highly educated. He ends by calling himself “little educated” and then proclaims what he was able to achieve, then points his fingers at those who are highly educated and asked what they can do.

What a proud statement!

It made me think about what I am doing in my life. Yes, I have this fancy optometry degree. It got me a well paying and comfortable job.

But my impact on society is on a one to one scale. That’s what got me into communicating online and programming.

I don’t to just make money. What do I believe in? What gets me excited? What works within my ethical boundary?

Can we do everything in the actions we pick?

That’s why I’m here. And that’s why I am writing to you.