A picture of Goddess Lakshmi outside a shop caught my eye.
I couldnt believe it at first...Did I see dollars in the picture? The picture was a usual one... with Lakshmi sitting on the lotus (If I am correct)...with multiple hands ...each having something different. There were coins flowing from one of the hands....But...in the background were dollar bills...1 dollar bills.
Had it been a shop in New York...it was still palatable but...to see dollars in a local panwala shop was surprising. Money now meant dollars and not Indian rupiah...Lakshmi was equivalent to dollars.
Then I thought...thats the truth... Dollar is the global currency.
Went back to my workstation and shared it with my office colleagues. There was this discussion on how idols of Ganesha etc were now being manufactured in China. Reminded me of an article in HT on that one. One of my friends said, ' You never know...soon there could be Chinese yen in the background instead of dollars'.
She was so true...but its amazing to see how currency has seeped into the depiction of Lakshmi.
I am sure the Diwali celebrations in Europe and US among the Indian diaspora would obviously have dollars and Euros instead of Rupiah.
P.S - Dont miss the rat eating the modak....Dont miss George Washington in the background?
PS 2 - If dollars have influenced Lakshmi...not long till it influences our lyricists
Kyun paisa paisa karti hai, Kyun paise pe tu marti hai
may change tu
Kyun dollar dollar karti hai, Kyun dollar pe tu marti hai
