My name is Tim. I have had the pleasure of working at Lotus Sculpture for about 9 months now. I was drawn to the job because of previous travel experience; I spent a semester during my junior year of college on a study abroad program called Semester at Sea. I had the opportunity to sail around the world on a floating university making 11 stops at various locations along the way. Of all the countries I was fortunate enough to visit, India stood out the most. It was enormous, there were people everywhere. I learned more in one week in India than I had in any other country on the trip. One thing that I saw and learned about, which stood out among everything, was the influence of Hindu Gods. Everywhere I looked there were Shiva statues, Parvati paintings, and carvings of Hanuman and Vishnu carved in the sides of the Elephanta Caves. These gods that I knew little about in my life as an average American teenager were all around me. I wondered how and why there were so many gods in Hinduism. As my stay in India progressed I found myself paying more attention to each and every carving or statue that I saw. As I boarded my boat I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that I had purchased numerous souvenirs of these Gods (2 statues and 2 shirts). My point is that not only did India as a country have a huge impact on me but also the Hindu Gods that I knew so little about had managed to have enough influence on me subconsciously that my souvenir bags were full of them. Years later after college was completed, I was unhappily working selling office supplies, the Hindu Gods managed to influence the course of my life and help get me the job of my dreams. I knew from my semester at sea that I wanted a career that would have me traveling all over the world doing something that interested me. I stumbled upon the Lotus Sculpture warehouse in Greenwich, CT and was privileged enough to meet the owner, Kyle. He graciously brought me inside and showed me the amazing collection of beautiful Hindu statues he had been working on for about 5 years at the time. Immediately I was taken back, I had flashbacks to my time in India. Shiva, Vishnu, Saraswati, Parvati, and my favorite of them all Ganesh, were all around me again. Right away I felt at home, it was the power of the Hindu Gods!!! It still amazes me to this day, after seeing all the statues for 9 months straight, how these wonderful Gods have the ability to overpower me in the best way possible. As I said earlier there was something about them I noticed when I was in India, something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
This blog is probably the closest I could ever get to fully explaining what these Gods mean to me as someone who is not a follower of the Hinduism faith, or of Indian Decent. The Hindu Gods are the best experience of my life. From my trip around the world, to my current job and future career, the Hindu Gods will forever have power over me and help guide me to a happy and healthy life!
Has anyone else had a similar experience with Gods or India having such a profound impact on their lives?
