Mindy Kaling has landed the cover of Elle’s The Women In TV Issue, well she’s one of four women to land the cover. Amy Poehler, Zooey Deschanel, and Allison Williams also have alternate covers on news stands. Still, one small step for Mindy onto an Elle photo shoot is one giant leap for South Asian American beauty.

In her Elle interview, shared how her hit show The Mindy Project helped her deal with the grief of her mother passing away in 2012, when Kalings mother lost her battle with pancreatic cancer. “Any person that’s been in the business knows they’re so lucky to have their show picked up,” Miss Kaling explained. “It happens to a small fraction of shows. But I was lucky personally, because I needed a distraction so badly from my grief.”

Mindy, who has in the past described her mother as “the love of her life”, said “still my thoughts flutter towards [my mother] in scenes that I’m doing, every night before I go to bed, and every morning when I wake up,” she added.

It would not be a Mindy story if it was drama free. Elle magazine has received some backlash from vocal women’s magazines, such as The Gloss and Fashionista, for not showing Kalings full figure on the cover, only having 1 woman of color in the multi-cover edition, and for putting her in black and white. Who has the best cover? You decide!

— SAPNA STAFF