We pride ourselves by claiming the tag of ‘modern’ and boasting about the broad mindset we have, but where does this modernity go when we shame a mother for breastfeeding her child? A process that is as natural as breathing is seen as offensive if a mother feeds her wailing baby in public, a contradiction that the magazine Grihalakshmi questions in its bold cover.

Grihalakshmi is a Malayalam magazine, which in its latest edition has featured the image of a woman breastfeeding, with the statement, “Mothers tell Kerala, “please don’t stare, we need to breastfeed””.

Vivek S Nambiar on Twitter

Malayalam magazine Grihalakshmi, from @mathrubhumieng, has this new cover. It says, “Mothers tell Kerala, “please don’t stare, we need to breastfeed””. WOW. Unusually bold.

And as expected, the bold cover has stirred quite a reaction, both positive and negative.

Subhash Pais on Twitter

@ivivek_nambiar @mathrubhumieng Quite brilliant and very relevant 👌👍

DeepJyoti on Twitter

@ivivek_nambiar @mathrubhumieng Wear shoes instead of carpeting whole earth. No? Atleast until overall national character can be trusted.😬

hindihainhum on Twitter

@ivivek_nambiar @mathrubhumieng Kudos to the editors, writer and model, for being progressive and traditional at the same time. Mothers Milk ,its health benefits should be known and celebrated, not shamed for ‘public’ feeding

No Title

No Description

Sidharthan on Twitter

@ivivek_nambiar @mathrubhumieng What’s wrong in watching a breastfeeding woman and getting sexually motivated?

Sidharthan on Twitter

@ivivek_nambiar @mathrubhumieng What’s wrong in watching a breastfeeding woman and getting sexually motivated?

Ajay K. Pathak. on Twitter

@ivivek_nambiar @mathrubhumieng Bold & beautiful..Outstanding way of getting across a message.Remember Ram Teri Ganga Maili where the chief protagonist Mandakini was shown breastfeeding her child on the big screen that was a first and this is too. Need to send message across.

While the cover may have been for commercial reasons, there is no denying the fact that our society needs to get in some serious thinking mode to get rid of the stigma around the natural process of breastfeeding.