CHICAGO: A Texas based athletic clothing company “Miami Fitwear” has apologized and removed leggings carrying images of Lord Ganesha from its website after strong protests from a large number of Indians here and abroad.
Raquel Ponce, founder of Miami Fitwear, in emails to Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism wrote: “…We have removed the leggings from our website…I am truly sorry if I offended anyone with printing those leggings. That was not my intention at all… and again I apologize. The last thing I wanted is to offend anyone.”
Miami Fitwear and Ponce were thanked for understanding the concerns of Hindu community, which found images of Hindu deity Lord Ganesha on leggings highly disrespectful.
Products of Miami Fitwear; which describes itself as “an athleisure and lifestyle company”; include leggings, capris, pants. Its mission includes “making you feel good” and it and claims to “handcraft every legging”. The now removed “True Wisdom” Ganesha leggings were priced at $98 and its description included: “We hope our hand-drawn Ganesha leggings help you remember how beautifully strong and wise you are when you decided to use your energy in a positive way.”
In Hinduism, Lord Ganesha 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.
Arvind Patel
