Ganesh CD player, Mumbai, India

What’s it called when you find something offensive on behalf of another religion (even though you realize said religion might not, if you can speak of it generally, take as much offense)? Well however misplaced my empathy may be, here you go: a CD player topped with a cyclopian plastic image of Mumbai’s favorite god of prosperity, Ganesh, which the photographer found in the city’s renowned hipster/high-fashion boutique Bombay Electric. I can’t stop thinking of the line from Gita Mehta’s wonderful book Karma Cola: Marketing the Mythic East, about how you should never trust a guru who wears running shoes. Ganesh CD player, from a Mumbai photo gallery by Michael Rubenstein, National Geographic Traveler, October 2008 :: via Neatorama