A school dropout from a poor family in southern India has revolutionised menstrual health for rural women in developing countries by inventing a simple machine they can use to make cheap sanitary pads. Arunachalam Muruganantham's invention came at great personal cost - he nearly lost his family, his money and his place in society. But he kept his sense of humour. "It all started with my wife," he
![The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/5a03bf5c185247fb9f8a803eadc9400caf485a65/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fichef.bbci.co.uk%2Fnews%2F1024%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F73344000%2Fjpg%2F_73344656_muruga_7_promobig.jpg)