Arunachalam Muruganantham

The idea came from my wife, since in our village, women cannot afford to buy sanitary pads. When I asked my wife, she told me we would have to cut down half of our milk budget to buy sanitary pads. Moreover, while raw materials for sanitary pads cost 10 paise, the end product was sold for 40 times that price. So, I decided to create it on my own. ”

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

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. ”

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? ”

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

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. ”

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

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

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

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. ”