I was given a box of Indian sweets. They are the prettiest display of food I have ever seen!
The box cover was decorated with a picture of a strange creature with the head of an elephant on top of a human body. He is Ganesh, a very popular deity in India. Legend has it that Shiva was away and that his wife Parvati was lonely so she created a son, Ganesh. He was a chubby and joyfull little boy. When Shiva returned, the child was guarding the entrance to where his mother was bathing in the nude, and would not allow Shiva to pass. Furious Shiva cut the boy’s head off. Needless to say Parvati was very distressed, so Shiva decided to cut the head of the first living creature he would meet to replace his son’s head…and that was an elephant. This is why Ganesh is pictured as a little boy with an elephant head. He is the remover of bstacle, the god of luck, of children, of domestic harmony and of success. He is the most beloved and revered of all the Hindu gods, and is always invoked first in any Hindu ceremony or festival.
I enjoy symetry in a lot of things, and food is one of them. That is probabbly why I like that box of sweets so much and also what makes me prepare salads the way I do. This is the one I made today….Am I obsessive?…
