Chhaupadi – Living On Exile Film Transcript ( 15 min & 33 sec )
Time are shown in
the format minutes then second. So 01: 35 means 1 min & 35 secs.
00:12- 02:33 [ Short brief of place, people, cultures &
there lifestyle ].
Nepal,
a secular country among the Himalayan region of South Asia.
Over 80% of
Nepalese practice Hinduism.
Religion and
religious practices play an important role in the daily life, culture, and
society of Nepal.
In Nepal out of the
seven provinces, two severely lag behind the rest
in terms of overall
development and gender equality.
It is estimated
that in the far west Achham district.
Over 95% of women,
including girls, are forced to follow menstrual exile
natively known as
Chhaupadi.
Today, i am in the
rural village of Achham district where menstruation,to this day, is still a
taboo.
Achham a
predominantly rural region with an agricultural-based economy record.
the district has
the lowest literacy rate for both Male 46 percent & female 37
percent according to Unicef’s
2016 record.
Here it is believed
that the Gods get angry if the practice of Chhaupadi is violated.
Bhashubaan is a
remote village in the foothills of Himalaya,
located deep in the forests.
Here, women and
girls are exiled for 5 to 6 days in their periods on cow sheds or mud
huts
made separately for
them called chaupadi.
It is believed that
the menstruating female is impure and brings
bad luck.
Not just exiled,
they are barred from touching items ranging from religious idols, milk
products, cattle,
and many other things.
02:34 – 04:11 Bhashubaan villagers, Achham District.
[ One of major
badly affected village where Chhaupadi perform in every homes ].
why does the tiger
come to this area?
Even we don't
know.. It’s a god.. here we have lot of god
Does this happen
because of god?
Ya
Here we have a lot
of gods in this village. Much more than other villages..
Here every home we
have a god.
How many days you
have to spend on cow sheds?
5 days for women
& 6 days for girls. But now’s days even girls stay for 5 days.
If we violate the tradition snake will come to
our homes.
This happens
because of God.
Otherwise snake
will come to home..
Snake will come ?
Ya
Snake & god
often come in this area if he gets angry.
If we violated our
traditions.
This is one of the
many mud huts where she spends her menstruation
periods along with
her children.
03:51 - 04:00
In 2017, the Nepal
Government had passed a law against these
practices and
punishing those
04:00 - 04:11
who forces anyone
to exile during menstruation, culprit’s faces up to three
months of jail and
a fine of three thousand rupees.
04:12 – 6:22 Bhashubaan villagers, Achham District.
[ One of major badly
affected village where women with their babies & young children
go to cowsheds or
mudhuts during periods ].
What to say..
Here, if we
violated our tradition during periods
tiger and snake comes.
recently, tiger
came to our village & killed goats & cow from cow sheds.
Tiger ate ?
Ya
Snake also comes ?
Ya
just a weeks ago a tiger came & killed six goats
& one cow from cow sheds.
Oh..
This is because of god when he got angry ?
Ya.. Its a god who
else..
When he will angry
this thing happens?
Ya
Do even you go to
cow sheds? Ya even i got to cow shed.
No one stay inside
house during periods.So i also go to cowsheds.
Don't you feel
afraid to stay in cowshed?
No, not at all..
If you go to cow
shed gods will not get angry?
Ya
Don't you feel scared to stay outside cowsheds? No,
we don't
It is near only so,
why to afraid.
Do even your
children have to cowshed?
Ya.. Even baby has
to stay on cowshed with us.
Even during
pregnancy time, you have to go to cowsheds? No, we don't go at that time.
But small babies
have to stay in cow shed? Yes
How many days you
have to sleep outside during periods? We sleep for 5 days in cows sheds...
06:26 - 06:33
Chhaupadi was
outlawed by the Supreme Court of Nepal as early as 2005,
06:33 - 06:41
But the tradition
had survived and is slow to change.
06:42 – 06:56 [ A boy giving a short brief of Chhaupadi, how
women & young girls
stay during
their periods in mud huts / cowsheds ].
Where they build
fire? This is pot where they build fire
Why they build fire
? To keep them warm during night time
06:56 - 07:10
There are many
reports of deaths caused by asphyxiation by
smoke while living inside the small menstrual huts.
07:11 – 07:35 Sharmila
Bhujel , Achham District
[ A victim girl who
found dead in mud huts while following old tradition, Chhaupadi ].
One of the many
victims is sharmila Bhujel. Found dead
the next morning from smoke inhalation..
while exiled into
the hut as per the age-old menstrual tradition.
she was just a
normal 14-year old school girl.
07:35 - 07:47
During my journey
to the village, I got to talk to her grandmother
and her younger sister about the events of that night.
07:49 – 09:49
Victim
( Sharmila Bhujel ) Grandmother
[ describing
the events & her pain of lossing her granddaughter ].
It was cold winter
month she got her periods at night.
At morning she told
me she is feeling headache.She told i am not be able to go school today. She took rest that day.
That day our
neighbor boy was going to India.
She slept at her
house. The evening she got her periods.
she slept outside
the home alone. Many people blame she died due to
smoke inhalation..
But all my children
have grown on mud huts only but I don't know
what the reason
was.
she was studying in 9 grade. The early morning
her father told her she
is no more.we used
to live in another town mangalsen.
He called us &
we came to home it was very painful & heart-wrenching
moments to see i
really don't want to recall.. it breaks my heart into pieces..
So i don't want to
remember.
Nepal government
didn't help us, Even Delhi, Kathmandu & American media came & took our
videos & photos by giving words we will
come to help you.
But, no one helped
& they never came again.
Due to a lot of
tension even my son died.
Now, i have a grand
daughter i have to look after them. We don't have any support.
what to say..
we have to go
through every problem whatever is written in destiny.
In that crucial
time, no one came for help us.
09:55 – 12:06 Victim ( Sharmila Bhujel ) Sister
[ Describing the
event of her sister & giving suggestions to young girls & women ].
Its been seven
years since she left us.I don't know how she died.
But we found her
early morning at that time she already left us.
At that time i was
very small.I used to live with grandmother & she used to live with father & mother
I used to study in
another town mangalsen.
I think she was 15
years old at that time.
I just want to tell
all sisters that don't go to cowsheds just stay at home
If we tell them to
stay far outside they have to face many problems.. stomach ache &
many problems.
So i want to tell
please keep them at home & give them some nutritious
food at that time.
All i want to say
that for the next generation is don't live in cowsheds...
There will be a lot
of problems while staying far from home. we don’t
know what is the
cause of sudden death maybe there are a lot of reasons.
we have to promote
& raise awareness for people to live inside their homes.That is all i suggest
12:07 - 12:16
While the exact
number of deaths due to these practices aren’t officially available.
12:16 - 12:32
A lot of other
cases including molestation, snake bites, animal attacks,
and asphyxiation
from inhaling smoke due to poor ventilation.
12:33 - 12:41
Through the Nepal Government along with the NGO’s are conducting awareness programs to root
out this blind practice,
12:41 - 12:51
the results are
slow and time-consuming. As it needs the co-operation of society and the
families to
understand
12:51- 13:00
and change their
mindset towards the old and ancient tradition.
13:14 - 13:19
In Achham, women
use old clothes during their periods.
13:19 - 13:25
Because they cannot
afford sanitary pads or menstrual cups.
13:25 – 14:13 Sangita kadait
,School girl
[ sharing her
unfair experience & mindset of her family & society ].
She is Sangita
Kadait. She shares her unfair experience’s faced in her home and society.
In our society,
some people stay inside home & some people stay outside home
Now a days our
mothers are little educated and they suggest us to stay inside at home.
but our grandfather
& grandmother still says that we have to stay outside in cowshed during the
periods.
I always feel very
bad & wonder why they discriminate against us during the mensturation
periods.
I know because they
are illiterate so they force such things to us.
14:15 - 14:45 [ Concluding remarks ]
In my journey, I
have seen a rise in awareness through education among the women and girls
in school, to
eliminate the practice of Chhaupadi.
I hope that day
comes soon, where no children or mother has to suffer or die from this unhuman
practice.
14:47 - 15:07
[ Report data ]
Everyday,an
estimated 290,000 women & adolescent girl in Nepal menstruate. According to
research
data from
Population Service International Nepal. About 83% of the menstruating girl use
cloth only
15% use pads
Globally 68% of
women are afraid to talk about their periods with man. Whereas, 81% of Asian
women
hide their periods
from others.
15 :09 – 15:33 [ Credits ] The End