Menstruation: myth, reality and Nepalese society

Byline = A byline on a newspaper or magazine article gives the date, as well as the name of the writer of the article.
 नामरेखा - समाचार लेख्ने पत्रकारको नाम लेखिएको ठाउं (यो शिर्षक को ठीक मुनिपट्टि हुन्छ)

 

Dateline = Dateline refers to the line of the newspaper where the date and place of publishing is printed. 
मितिरेखा - समाचारलेखिएको घटना घटेको मिति र ठेगाना लेखिएको ठाउं (यो नामरेखाको ठीक मुनिपट्टि  हुन्छ)
 

Deadline = Deadline is the last time that something can be completed without being late. For example, the deadline for the newspaper is Saturday at 2 o'clock.

समाचार लेखेर बुझाउनु पर्ने अन्तिम म्याद वा समय (पत्रकार वा सम्बाद दातालाईलाई उसको माथिल्लो हाकिम वा सम्पादक ले यो समाचार यति गते यति बजे सम्म बुझाइसक्नु पर्छ भनेर समय तोकिदिएका हुन्छन) 

Menstruation, myth, reality and Nepalese Society

In a country like Nepal where menstruation is taken as a taboo and shameful phenomenon, chhaupadi is still strongly intact in many places, discussing menstrual hygiene is still an icebreaker. Menstruation is a natural process in adolescent girls and women. Menstruation is the process in a woman of discharging blood and other materials from the lining of the uterus at intervals of about one lunar month from puberty until menopause, except during pregnancy.

Menstrual hygiene day is marked on 28th May every year since it was initiated by a Germany based NGO named WASH United in 2014 AD with the view to breaking existing taboos and raising awareness of how important the menstrual hygiene management is for women and adolescent girls throughout the world.

Keeping a handful of exceptions aside, the subject itself is a taboo in even highly educated Nepali society. People still send their first time menstruating daughter to other people’s house for seven days where she is not allowed to touch things, come out in the sun, eat milk products, comb their hair and conduct worship. From the second one, they are provided a separate set of utensil, bedclothes, and room to stay during their periods at their own house. They are not allowed to touch things and especially men. If they touched a man, he will have to take a bath and replace the sacred thread with a new one as it becomes impure due to her touch. The main reason behind this may be the rooted beliefs which we have been fed by society and interpreters of the Shashtras. Most of us are brought up by listening to various moral and religious stories like Shrimad Bhagwat, Swasthani, Devi Purana etc. Instances from such stories become guiding norms for us in our society and day to day life.

There is an instance in Shirmad Bhagwata regarding the blood of menstruation.  According to Bhagwat Puana, Kali (one of four Yugas, the demonic one) was allowed to stay in menstrual blood of women along with other places by King Parikshit. So the people, who have been continuously listening to the story of King Parikshit since generations through Bhagwat Purana, heed the menstrual blood as inauspicious due to the stay of Kali. So, the days of menstruation and the menstruating person is taken as inauspicious or impure or untouchable.

We are still not able to accept the discharge of something from the human body as a biological phenomenon rather we take it as sin relating it with the stories we brought up listening to. The phenomenon is still deeply rooted in educated families and cities. So we can imagine the magnitude of the same in remote areas and uneducated families.

It is high time that we raised awareness regarding the menstruation as a natural process and the importance of hygiene management during the period to make people gradually accept the phenomenon as a regular process in women and adolescent girls as the process of urination and defecation in all living beings.

Marketing Mix and 4Ps of Marketing

Marketing mix:

In general concept, Marketing Mix is a planned mix of the controllable elements of a product's marketing plan commonly termed as 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion.

These four elements are adjusted until the right combination is found that serves the needs of the product's customers while generating optimum income. Sometimes the first P (Product) is substituted by the presentation.

It is a general phrase used to describe the different kinds of choices organizations have to make in the whole process of bringing a product or service to market.

A planned mix of the controllable elements of a product's marketing plan commonly termed as 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion.

These four elements are adjusted until the right combination is found that serves the needs of the product's customers, while generating optimum income. Sometimes the first P (Product) is substituted by presentation.

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/marketing-mix.html

A planned mix of the controllable elements of a product's marketing plan commonly termed as 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion.

These four elements are adjusted until the right combination is found that serves the needs of the product's customers, while generating optimum income. Sometimes the first P (Product) is substituted by presentation.

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/marketing-mix.html

A planned mix of the controllable elements of a product's marketing plan commonly termed as 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion.

These four elements are adjusted until the right combination is found that serves the needs of the product's customers, while generating optimum income. Sometimes the first P (Product) is substituted by presentation.

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/marketing-mix.html

What are the 4Ps of Marketing?

The 4Ps of marketing is a model for enhancing the the components of your ‘marketing mix,the way in which you take a new product or service to market. It helps you to define your marketing options in terms of price, product, promotion, and place so that your offering meets a specific customer's need or demand.

Marketing is putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time.

For amrketing, you just need to create a product that a particular group of people want, put it on sale some place that those same people visit regularly, and price it at a level which matches the value they feel they get out of it; and do all that at a time they want to buy. Then you've got it made!

There's a lot of truth in this idea. However, a lot of hard work needs to go into finding out what customers want, and identifying where they do their shopping. Then you need to figure out how to produce the item at a price that represents value to them, and get it all to come together at the critical time.

But if you get just one element wrong, it can spell disaster. For example, you could be left promoting a car with amazing fuel economy in a country where fuel is very cheap, or publishing a textbook after the start of the new school year, or selling an item at a price that's too high – or too low – to attract the people you're targeting.

"Marketing mix" is a general phrase used to describe the different kinds of choices organizations have to make in the whole process of bringing a product or service to market. The 4Ps is the best-known way – of defining the marketing mix. The word or phrase was first expressed in 1960 by E. J. McCarthy, an American marketing professor, and author.

The 4Ps are:

• Product (or Service).
• Place.
• Price.
• Promotion.

A good way to understand the 4Ps is by the questions that you need to ask to define your marketing mix. Here are some questions that will help you understand and define each of the four elements:

Product/Service

• What does the customer want from the product /service? What needs does it satisfy?
• What features does it have to meet these needs?
• Are there any features you've missed out?
• Are you including costly features that the customer won't actually use?
• How and where will the customer use it?
• What does it look like? How will customers experience it?
• What size(s), color(s), and so on, should it be?
• What is it to be called?
• How is it branded?
• How is it differentiated versus your competitors?

Place

• Where do buyers look for your product or service?
• If they look in a store, what kind? A specialist boutique or in a supermarket, or both? Or online? Or direct, via a catalog?
• How can you access the right distribution channels?
• Do you need to use a sales force? Or attend trade fairs? Or make online submissions? Or send samples to catalog companies?
• What do your competitors do, and how can you learn from that and/or differentiate?

Price

• What is the value of the product or service to the buyer?
• Are there established price points for products or services in this area?
• Is the customer price sensitive? Will a small decrease in price gain you extra market share?
• What discounts should be offered to trade customers?
• How will your price compare with your competitors?

Promotion

• Where and when can you get your marketing messages across to your target market?
• Will you reach your audience by advertising online, in the press, on TV, on radio, or on billboards? By using direct marketing mailshots? Through PR? On the Internet?
• When is the best time to promote? Is there seasonality in the market? Are there any wider environmental issues that suggest or dictate the timing of your market launch or subsequent promotions?
• How do your competitors do their promotions? And how does that influence your choice of promotional activity?