Anurag Chauhan, popularly known as the Padman or PadWarrior is a social worker, founder of the Humans for Humanity organisation and the recipient of the Karamveer Chakra by the United Nations. His magnificent persona is the perfect blend of modern abstraction and reverence for rich culture and tradition. Born and brought up in Dehradun, Mr. Anurag Chauhan shares that he had a very comfortable upbringing for which he expresses his profound gratitude to his parents.

He started working for the society at a very young of 14 years for which he got motivation and inspirations from various incidents but most importantly his preliminary view about volunteerism was given shape by the visionary words of late Pandit Birju Maharaj ji with whom he got a chance to interact during a school function. Mr. Chauhan recalled the whole meeting and shared with The HULAHUL Times, that he was quite curious to know why was he working in such an old age when on other hand his grandfather of the same age as his, was enjoying his retirement. He precisely remembers asking him “sir what’s the need for you to do this at this age”, to which Birju Mahraj ji gracefully replied “do you know India was once known as soni ki chidiya but now it is no more a soni ki chidiya, so I’m just trying to protect the rich culture heritage, tradition and values of our Country”, shared Mr. Chauhan. It was this interaction with Birju Maharaj Ji that motivated him to work for the society at a young age. His journey of social work began with the active engagement with SPIC MACAY Organisation, which is almost a 50 years old organisation working to promote various folk artists, dancers, singers etc.

Further, in the conversation he shared his views about the misconception that people have about the difference between Modernisation and Westernisation. He considers that modernisation in one’s outlook and worldview is the need of the hour but people have started to confuse modernisation for westernisation with overwhelming adoption of western way of living and fashion loosing faith and respect for their own way of living and culture. He also shares that since 8^th standard he started wearing traditional clothes like Kurta Pajama and since then he has not owned even one pair of jeans. For him it’s a way to respect the handloom artisans for the incredible art that they bring out in the form of Handloom clothes. Alongside talking about the neglected issues like menstrual hygiene which is mostly considered deplorable and “modern” to discuss he holds his traditional values and culture in high regards.

Furthermore,    upon asking him about his support system he said, “my parents never formally pushed me for the social work but neither they objected the cause I was working for, my school teachers were also very supportive.”

Anurag Chauhan founded Humans for Humanity Organisation in 2014, the vision behind which started way before in year 2011 when he came across an article that highlighted the poor state of menstrual hygiene in India owing to which thousands of women were dying. He recollects that years around 2011 were of explicit conversation around women empowerment and feminism but he was steadfast to go beyond words and work on ground so that words like empowerment and feminism gives new breadth to women’s life and that was the time when he made commitments to work for menstrual hygiene and awareness. This commitment of Mr. Chauhan is also an extension of his belief that for women, after ‘roti, kapda, makaan’ sanitary pad is the necessity of which no women shall be bereft.

Humans for Humanity actively works to spread awareness about menstruation not only among women but also among men. They have been doing this in a systematic manner through their flagship project – WASH (Women Sanitation Hygiene).  Their whole idea revolves around breaking the false conception that ‘periods’ are dirty and filthy by making people understand that everyone is a product of it, if it is impure then every soul on this planet is impure. Key features of the WASH project are their workshops that are taken by doctors and nutritionist who work to spread awareness about the hygiene that needs to be maintained and the diet one should follow to lead a healthy life. They focus on 3As – Availability, Accessibility, and Affordability of food so that the women don’t face any problem. In workshops like these they also teach women the pad making process which runs for a few hours equipping them to solve their long-term problem of unavailability of good quality cost effective pads. 

Apart from this, the major efforts of the WASH project are directed towards creating awareness about periods, breaking taboos around it and relieving young women of the trauma they face with menarche.

Mr. Anurag himself has been working tirelessly to break the old age shackles and myths around periods by conducting various experiments like the ‘pickle test’ in their workshop to tell women the right reasoning behind the rules that were made for them be it about NOT touching the pickle, sleeping on bed, going to temples because in olden times there were no sanitary pads or feminine hygiene products to maintain the basic hygiene thus they were asked to remain a little aloof so that the pathogens of blood doesn’t spread. Likewise, sleeping on floor while on periods helps in earthing and calms the body. All these efforts to break the taboos are a part of their “Breaking the Bloody Taboo” programme.

Going beyond women, Mr. Anurag talks about the unavoidable need to aware men too about menstruation because unless men are aware, the refinement in humanity and empowerment for women will not really come. Humans for Humanity is a multicausal and inclusive organisation that not only focuses on women issue but Transgender men too. Transgender men are the ones who are actually born female but identify themselves as males. Talking about them at length, he threw light on the daily hardships of transmen be it about the unavailability of gender neuter hygiene products, toilets and lack of money to get the appropriate surgery done. To add on to these issues, they are often treated with disgust and aversion by the society. Mr. Anurag shares an unfortunate incident of Delhi’s Khan Market where a transman was beaten up badly by a group of people on using a men’s washroom. Anurag aims to create awareness about the uncompromisable rights of transmen and the need to bring out inclusive hygiene products in market and gender-neutral toilets in public spaces.

Humans for humanity has been immensely successful in bringing about positive changes in various states and they aim to reach and empower women of the entire country. They also run listening centres for women that make efforts to take women out of their mundane routine into a space that allows them to express themselves freely in front of women that come from the identical backgrounds. This is an amazing exercise for them as it not only solves their problems but also allows them to sympathize and empathise with others. 

Upon asking about any special memory from his work that has stayed close to his heart, he shared an incident from a workshop that was conducted in Chomu village of Rajasthan where Mr. Anurag and his team gave a workshop and later the women of that town tied him the rakhi which was the most heartwarming experience for him. “God didn’t give me a real sister but now when I look across the country, I have not one but many sisters”, says Mr. Anurag Chauhan.

However, he also shares that his journey has not been a very smooth one as alongside the supportive people and communities there have been people and communities that oppose their cause and “throw stones” at them and blame them to corrupt their women about something which is unwholesome. Adding to this, his organization despite of doing the commendable work runs short of funds and aids it through self-funding and don’t accept money from individuals instead urge them to supply amenities like pads, blankets etc worth the amount they want to donate.

Standing true to its name ‘Human for Humanity’ actually works for larger humanity be it children, artisans, families, and other marginalised communities. During the COVID 19 pandemic, they fed around 8000 families for 2 years, helped Kathputli artisans to make both ends meet by offering them work opportunities.

Lastly, on asking about any practical piece of advice he would like to give to the youngsters who want to contribute in the welfare of the society, he said, “youth should learn the true meaning of volunteerism, it is a full-time commitment that goes beyond social media posts, it’s the art of selflessly serving the society.” Adding to this he also said that if someone wish to serve the society then they should seriously pursue a degree in social services because it is not an optional fun activity but something that needs serious attention and responsive behaviour.

Mr. Anurag Chauhan is truly an inspiration for the society and the youth. His journey highlights that there is no right time or age to take up a responsibility, the only need is to have right intentions and the dedication to work towards that intended cause and that how one can make great changes in the society.