Hindu gods on sandals? It's marketing, stupid!

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

I am not able to understand the mails of this type that are coming out like

below.

 

Sometime back there was a hue over Thirumala, when all members wanted us to

unite

and start doing something on all these.

 

Sadly, I have not seen anything in this regard for more than a mandalam now. Why

are

we like this? Even the new genX people do only lip service. Why all moderators

and

owners of the groups on ramanuja and vaishnavism unite and make a effort?

 

Dasan/raghavan

 

svinjamoor wrote:

 

Dear Bhagavathas,

 

Please see the plight of our Gods. If these westerners cannot understand our

culture, and respect it, let them shut their damn mouth, instead of resorting to

such cheap tactics, to make profits. Already all the schools in India, teach the

history of our own culture, which were distorted by the westerners who, were

unable to digest our superiority, and the richness of our culture. If the same

had been done to Allah or Jesus, then there will be protests all over the world,

then why is it that the whole world is taking our culture for granted. The news

says, this was not deliberately done. Even if its done as a marketing strategy,

these marketing people aren?t that dumb. So this clearly shows that, this has

been done deliberately, know very well that it will hurt the sentiments of

billions of Hindus. When will we change. Alas what to say of these people when

our own men, born and brought up in our mathru bhoomi are destroying our

culture, belief, and tradition in Thirumala, and other place, in the name of

expansion, security, etc?

 

Request our bhagavathas to lodge their protest to against such unscrupulous

organizations who hurt the other sentiments, for the sake of their own gains.

 

______________________________\

_

 

Hindu gods on sandals? It's marketing, stupid!

 

October 18, 2004 12:27 IST

 

 

 

Lord Ganesha and 'Aum' imprinted on the sole of flip-flop sandals, God Rama's

image on sniff tissues, lunch boxes with images of goddess Kali and Durga --

the western world seems to be stamping its fascination for Indian deities and

religious symbols on every commodity!

 

 

Is it crass marketing or the West's enchantment for our religious symbols or

simply ignorance, which is finding a bizarre expression in the form of this

latest fad? Be it doormats, toiletries or beachwear, the moment these products

have sketches of Indian idols, they become a rage in western markets.

 

 

"West's attitude is rather intriguing. On the one hand, they hold yoga, love

for peace, sexual chastity and vegetarianism in high stead. All of these are

closely associated with the Indian tradition," says Professor Anand Kumar, Head

of Sociology Department, Jawaharlal Nehru University. "However, on the other

hand, they fancy products like footwear and doormats sporting pictures of our

gods. These parallel sets of fads are paradoxical. It could well be a marketing

ploy," he adds.

 

 

"The western world has always been tremendously attracted to our religious

beliefs. They feel there is an element of mystery shrouded around the concept

of different gods for a single religion. And this exerts a gravitational pull

on them," says spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of

Living Foundation.

 

 

While there does not seem to be any deliberate intention to trivialise or

demean our religious sentiments, the West nevertheless hurts sentiments, he

adds. The trend has it that images of Indian deities have been printed on

beachwear, paper napkins and footwear, followed by protests by the Indian

community abroad.

 

 

Consequently, this line of products has been pulled off the shelf, but not

without making profits.

 

 

"An apology is issued at times, but what about the millions of hurt sentiments?

This innocuous trend of using Hindu symbols on fashion or marketing accessories

reveals the producers' insatiable greed for profits," says Sheila, an activist

working with Hindu Human Rights.

 

 

There is a drive in the industry for new angles to selling their products to

consumers, whose appetite for consuming is jaded. The desperate designers are

roaming the world for more ideas and in the process offending sentiments, she

adds.

 

 

Agni, an organisation working to check the misuse of Indian gods and sacred

signs, maintains that the main cause of misuse is the lack of knowledge, value

and importance of Indian deities.

 

 

Marketing gimmicks hurt sentiments

 

 

"Wibra and departmental store Bijenkorf sold undergarments printed with the

sacred symbol of Aum. Ikea traded in toiletries with image of Ganesha printed

on it and Tuinen BV put images of Lord Ram on sniff tissues," says P Ghirrao,

secretary, Committee Common Issues, Agni Corporation.

 

 

The Website of Hindu Focus, an organisation formed to curb such defamations,

alleges that a dot-com deals in lunch boxes with images of Kali, Krishna,

Ganesha and Shiva.

 

 

Hindu Focus alleged that this particular online retailer of lunchboxes

proclaims to have a 'fascination with Hindu culture' and it claims to "bring

beauty and mystery to your mid-day meal with the alluring but deadly Kali

lunchboxes."

 

 

D J Jayasekara, managing director of this online retailer of lunchboxes,

declined producing such tiffin boxes.

 

 

Says Prof. Kumar, "I do not detect any deliberately carved out scheme of

denigration in these products. There seems to be a definite engagement with the

'exotic' and the 'other'. It could just be a marketing ploy."

 

 

Such marketing tricks aim at shocking and then holding the probable consumer's

attention. It is a way of jolting the consumer by providing him the forbidden.

And thus ensuring a boom in sales, say experts.

 

 

However, big and respectable brand names do not adopt such cheap tactics. Brand

names like Benetton, for instance, are extremely sensitive towards issues like

skin colour diversity and are eco-friendly too.

 

 

"The West has no idea about what they are encashing upon, for they do not

realise the true value of our divine heritage and cultural ethos," sums up Sri

Sri Ravi Shankar.

 

 

______________________________\

_

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

Srinivas Vinjamoor

 

 

 

 

 

 

azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam

 

 

 

ramanuja/

 

ramanuja

 

 

 

 

 

 

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