Footwear store in Geneva uses Buddha statue to hang shoes

PATNA: Sight-seeing in Switzerland
does not leave a vacationer horrified, but Patna's Prabhat Choudhary, his wife
and daughter were shocked to

Buddha's statue at a footwear store in Geneva. (TOI Photo)

see a Lord Buddha statue garlanded with a pair of
shoes at a footwear shop in Geneva.



"We were strolling on shopping
street when my 15-year-old daughter insisted that we got into 'Anne Fontaine', a
designer footwear shop. There in the shop, we saw a 4-ft statue of Lord Buddha
on the shelf displaying shoes and slippers, garlanded with a pair of shoes,"
Prabhat, a realtor, recalled.



The family was shocked. Prabhat's
daughter, was furious. Though her parents were a bit frightened, she persuaded
them to let her shoot the sight with her videocam. The girl, a student of
Patna's prestigious Notre Dame Academy, accomplished her mission without anyone
- the shop staff or the crowd of customers - knowing about it.



Back
home, Prabhat has sent a letter to the ministry of external affairs, requesting
it to take up the matter with Swiss authorities.