A puppet proprietor in DUMBO is on the receiving end of some harsh words from some of the Hindu community. Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain in Nevada, sent the owners of the Unemployed Philosophers Guild on Jay Street a letter this week, voicing disapproval of the shop's Shiva and Ganesh puppets.
According to Courier LIfe, Zed believes the puppets trivialize the faith, and said in a statement: “Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesh were highly revered deities in Hinduism and using them as puppets was troubling for the devotees. The concept of manipulating puppets and playing with dolls made after deities is downright denigrating." But it's not like they're suggesting you introduce them to your Twilight dolls during playtime and turn them into vampire gods.
Meanwhile, co-owner of the store, Stephan Shaw, lives in a Hindu household—his wife says she is “culturally, religious, and in every way Hindu," adding, “I don’t think of my people as insecure enough to take this kind of offense. I think of the religion as asking you to take things more lightly—this isn’t that big of a deal.”
The store plans to keep selling the puppets, along with all of their others, which include Obama, Warhol, Einstein, Gandhi, Jane Austen, Buddha, Freud, Mandela, Che Guevara, and Trotsky.
