"Newsweek", in its April 29 issue, featured Canadian poet-activist Rupi Kaur’s menstruation-themed picture in a cover story, titled "The fight to end period shaming is going mainstream". Rupi Kaur's poetry and prose book, "Milk and Honey", has also found a place in the Canada's fiction bestseller list compiled by "The Globe and Mail." Kaur is also a social media star with 415,000 followers on Instagram and over 28,000 on Twitter.

TORONTO – From her emotional poem, "Cancer train", written in 2013 that focuses on the problem of cancer in Punjab, Canadian writer and artist Rupi Kaur has come a long way.

"Newsweek", in its April 29 issue, featured Canadian poet-activist Rupi Kaur’s menstruation-themed picture in a cover story, titled "The fight to end period shaming is going mainstream".

Rupi Kaur's poetry and prose book, "Milk and Honey", has also found a place in the Canada's fiction bestseller list compiled by "The Globe and Mail."

Last year, Rupi Kaur, 23, uploaded an image on Instagram to challenge the menstruation taboo. It was taken down twice.

Instagram eventually apologised and claimed it had been removed accidentally. Newsweek took note of it and carried a story on her. Her fame has shot up hugely.

Today, Rupi Kaur has 415,000 followers on Instagram and over 28,000 on Twitter.

A Toronto resident, Kaur's family had come to Canada from Punjab three decades ago. Her brush with recognition began when she performed a poetic drama on cancer in Punjab . The 4.55-minute "Cancer Train" poem narrates the plight of a daughter whose father is suffering from cancer and whose mother is waiting for the cancer train at the Bathinda railway station that would take them to Bikaner, in Rajasthan, for treatment. She had narrated the story at Lions Roar festival and Sikhnet Film Festival in 2013.

"It was tough to cope with the pressure of having to talk about menstruation, but now with Newsweek splashing it as the cover story, I thing the point I wished to make has found its mark,", she says.

In the image that Instagram took down twice, taken by her sister Prabh, Rupi is seen lying on a bed with stains visible on her clothes and on the sheet.