Problems on the Train!

by Nithya R.
(Cochin,Kerala, India)

This is a true story that took place in my life. I was born and lived in a village so I followed our traditions including in the case of breast feeding. We prefer mothers milk to kids than tinned foods but the biggest challenges and difficulties due to breastfeeding in public arises during journeys /trips.

It was when we planned to go to our uncles home at Delhi. It took almost two days to reach there. I was taking my child of 4 months. A lower seat was reserved for me because I still found difficulty in climbing up.

My kid was very much irritated by the dust and heat as well as she was hungry. So I decided to feed her.

It was my first child and I don't have much experience in breast feeding. So as the first step I removed my dress covering breast and slowly I pulled my bra of left breast and started to feed her.

I was not looking at my surroundings as I was feeding her. Naturally my care and attention was on my kid. After feeding I pulled back my bra, but I was shocked seeing that the man above my seat was seeing all these things and he was shooting these scenes through a mobile camera. It took a few seconds for me to recover from that shock.

I yelled and people around me and my husband rushed towards me and asked about the reason. Everyone took on that culprit. His mobile was taken away from him and the particular scenes were deleted and later he was handed over to a police officer. At first I was filled with saddness and anger. My question was "IS THIS IS THE VALUE OF A MOTHER IN SOCIETY".

Why are people treating women, especially mothers in such a insulting way. Don't they have mother and sisters at home. Why are they not considering us in their position. After that incident I stopped breast feeding during journeys only because of that reason. I know that breast milk is gift of nature and far better than tinned foods, but i value my dignity more than any others.

My prayers and wishes is that these type of incidents do not repeat again and I am wondering even in these modern times, if the dignity of women is questioned.

Despite this one incident, breastfeeding in public is still ok. It is important to take care of your child first.