CHICAGO: Etsy, Inc., a New York based company, seems to have bowed to Indian Americans protest against marketing flip-flops carrying image of Lord Ganesh on its website. The protest had deemed the wear “highly inappropriate”.
Ganesh Flip Flops, earlier selling for $25 at Etsy.com, does not show up anymore.Item description of Ganesh Flip Flops stated: “Traditionally, Ganesh is thought to provide prosperity, fortune and success. He is the Lord of Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles of both material & spiritual kinds. The marketing thrust was “Stand out from the crowd in these cute flip flops!”
In July last, Etsy withdrew a toilet seat carrying image of Lord Ganesha from its website within two hours after a protest
Etsy should have been enlightened by now that Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to adorn one’s feet. Hindus considered it a sacrilege to trample his image under one’s feet. Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.
Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.1 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously.
Etsy; founded in 2005 in an apartment in Brooklyn and now headquartered in its Dumbo neighborhood with additional offices in France, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, San Francisco (California), Hudson (New York); describes itself as “a global creative commerce platform”. It claims to have had annual gross merchandise sales of $3.25B in 2017.
In Hinduism, Lord Ganesh is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking. There are about three million Hindus in USA.
Harish Rao
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