American faith in Hindu Gods stirs curiosity in US

WASHINGTON: The VHP and other Sangh Parivar affiliates bristling at President Barack Obama's smackdown of India over purported religious intolerance should love this: Tom Brady, who is arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks in American football, keeps a four-inch statuette of Ganesha, believing him to be a "remover of obstacles" - and who better needs obstacles to be removed than the playmaker in the rough and tumble game?

Brady's Ganesha devotion came to light after journalists crowded around his locker after the quarterback led his team New England Patriots to a fourth Super Bowl title last week. Prominently displayed in the locker, reported USA Today, "was a four-inch bronze elephant-headed statue - Ganesha, the Hindu God. Or as Brady quietly told a visitor, 'The remover of obstacles."

Ganesha illustrates the spiritual side of his psyche developed with trainer and adviser Alex Guerrero, the paper said, adding that the spiritual is coupled by mental commitment, evidence by more items in his locker. Lying next to Ganesha were five note cards and handwritten notes that included, "Bend knees more on drop" and "Be on toes," and a poster by his children Benjamin and Vivian that read "Go Patriots. Love you Daddy." Brady is married to the Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

American fealty to Hindu Gods is not new. President Obama himself was reported keeping a small locket of Hanuman in his pocket as a lucky charm during his Presidential campaign. And the US House of Representatives now had a self-professed Hindu lawmaker in Tulsi Gabbard, whose faith comes from the Hare Krishna movement, and who used the Bhagavad Gita to take her oath in Congress.