Debjani Sarkar, a B.Ed. student, says, “The second day for me is the most painful and often makes it difficult to move forward with the daily tasks. I suffer from heavy bleeding, and every time on my first and second days of the cycle, I end up feeling extremely fatigued with a killer headache.”

Ask any woman whether their ‘that time of the month’ is something that passes over smoothly or not, and most would give you a similar answer. Studies conducted globally have showcased that 80–85 per cent of women have reported suffering from period pain, whether mild or severe, that often lasts for the first few days of the cycle.

Dysmenorrhea can happen for several reasons. Primary dysmenorrhea, having no medical condition, mainly occurs due to the chemical imbalance of prostaglandins, which are responsible for the uterine contractions, while secondary dysmenorrhea occurs due to underlying medical conditions, including endometriosis, fibroids, contraceptive medications, adenomyosis, endometrial polyps and much more.

While hot water bags and pain relief medicines are often the most common techniques settled for, they are not always that effective and convenient. The medications often come with adversities that can jeopardise health in the long run. While social taboos regarding menstruation are still prevalent in India, making the journey towards period equity an arduous task, two friends, Roni Mondal and Rohan Roy, have come up with a revolutionary menstruation pain relief product called ‘Matri’ that promises to make periods a little less painful for women.

Roni, who has an electrical engineering degree as well as an MBA degree, and Rohan, who has an instrumental engineering degree, never felt the need to chase the mundane corporate life; rather, they always had a knack for entrepreneurship and a love for technology. Mingling them both, it was in 2018 when, while listing problems that affect the daily roles of an individual, they concocted the idea of creating a product that has the potential to help billions of women.

Matri, a brainchild of Roni and Rohan, took years to complete. Creating the first prototype in 2018 to showcase it to the panel at IIT Patna, hoping for funds, they were offered pre-incubation then, and in 2020, after establishing their company, Silifarm Technologies, they were finally offered incubation by the renowned institute, where they were provided access to an advanced lab and funds to make the project a success. “With Covid hitting, it was a difficult time for us. We have a lab in Howrah where we used to do the research and work on the prototype, and when it came to testing, we used to stay in Patna for a month or two. We had tested the product on almost 400 women and collected feedback with a 96 per cent success rate,” says Roni Mondal.

They used to sell LED bulbs on Chandni Chowk Street to collect capital for their project and were able to collect Rs 50,000–60,000. When trying to find an investor, they were rejected by almost 200 investors, saying that menstruation is still taboo and the product could get backlash. “It was through Shark Tank that we were praised for our work, and investors were ready to invest,” adds Roni.

Why the name Matri? “Matri, because this product is the saviour that can provide relief from menstrual pain within minutes, just like how our mother protects us from everything.” Matri comes with two adhesive gel pads that get attached to your lower abdomen, offering relief from menstrual pain in just 15-20 minutes. The 4cm x 4cm device is extremely user-friendly and has a ‘+’ and ‘-’ sign to decide the intensity. It comes with both wired and wireless connectivity and can be used anywhere, anytime. Using micro-pulses, it blocks the pain signals, giving you relief from pain for the next 2–3 hours. “It is a portable, rechargeable, safe, non-invasive and drug-free solution. Also, you do not have to worry about charging. It offers 120 minutes of activity with 30 minutes of charging. Also, whenever the product remains inactive for more than 20 minutes, it shuts down automatically,” explains Roni Mondal excitedly.