SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, January 15, 2007: (HPI note: This article is part of the excellent “Finding My Religion” Series by David Ian Miller running in the San Francisco Chronicle which has featured several Hindus.)
Krishna’s childhood nickname was “Butter thief.” Siva likes to get away from it all every now and then. Ganesha has a sweet tooth, so be sure to share your candy with him. And whatever you do, don’t get Kali agitated. These and many other fun facts can be found in Sanjay Patel’s “Little Book of Hindu Deities” (144 pages, Plume, October 2006). The book is a collection of humorous but reverent biographical profiles of 50 divinities, each paired with Patel’s illustration of the God or Goddess in question. Patel, an artist at Pixar Animation Studios, renders the divine beings in a brilliantly colored, modern anime style that works surprisingly well to capture the personality of deities that have been around for millennia. Patel, 32, whose work has appeared in “Monsters, Inc.,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2” and “The Incredibles” and on Fox’s Simpsons,” was raised by devoutly Hindu parents who immigrated to Southern California in 1980. To view samples of Patel’s book or to read an interview with the author, click on the URL above.