Author: Shyam Bhatia in London
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: May 3, 2002
Hindu activists in London are outraged
by a London store's decision to sell iced fruit cakes decorated with the
likenesses of Indian gods and a goddess.
The luxury cakes that depict a frolicking
Lord Ganesha against a backdrop of pink icing, as well as Lord Shiva, Lord
Krishna and goddess Lakshmi, are on sale in the patisserie section of Selfridges
on Oxford Street.
They are displayed next to the pani
puri and tiffin carrier stalls set up by the Taj group, co-sponsors of
the Bollywood theme month that was inaugurated on Thursday by film stars
Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, Dimple Kapadia and Madhuri Dixit.
The Bollywood theme that runs right
through the various shopping zones of Selfridges has attracted widespread
media and public approval, but the Hindu cakes are an altogether different
issue.
"I think this is depicting the Hindu
pantheon in a mocking way," said Bimal Krishna Das of the UK Council of
Hindu Temples. "They wouldn't do this with Christian deities. They shouldn't
do this to us, the Hindu community will be offended."
Vishva Hindu Parishad's UK general
secretary Kishore Ruparelia said: "I am flabbergasted that they have gone
to these lengths to depict our gods and goddesses.
"They wouldn't present Jesus Christ
in this way. It's disrespectful and makes a mockery of our religious beliefs."
The cakes have been made on Selfridges'
behalf by Seriously Scrumptious, which describes itself as "a newly established
company which provides an exquisite range of luxury handcrafted cakes and
desserts, including gourmet gateaux, passionately designed pavlovas and
seriously divine chocolate tortes, Seriously Scrumptious handmade biscuits,
traybakes, cookies and much more..."
Company founder Rita Hraiz, who
is half Indian and half Lebanese, told rediff.com: "We put love into what
we do. We are not embarrassed to talk about our spiritual leanings.
"Quite a lot of our staff have been
to India and feel a lot of love for the country and 20 per cent of our
profits go to the Tulsi Trust, which serves some villages near Vrindavan."
Hraiz added that the cakes were
made as an offering to the divine and hoped they would not offend anyone.
