During the winter months I can’t sleep the whole night because it is cold and we don’t have enough warm clothes. Since I got my first menstruation at the age of 12 every month I have been living in a chaupadi hut. I was told by my parents that if I stay inside our house I will bring bad luck.

How is your chaupadi hut?

It is a small room with a wooden door which doesn’t close properly. There are no windows inside the room and we don’t get enough sunlight and can’t light a fire. If I do so I will die of suffocation. I am scared of the unexpected accidents that might happen. My eyes get tired waiting for the morning. Five days every month we have to face this horror. We are not given warm blankets because you have to wash them every day and it won’t dry. We only have thin clothes to keep us warm through the harsh cold winters.

Komal joshi, Accham