There is a beautiful advertisement running in the different print media on Espace Maison by Marbella. The advertisement shows the attractive body of a woman in a yoga posture greeting with a Namaste. But instead of the head we see a little blue square on which is written ?Nouvelle Collection, Nouveau Showroom?. I am sure the head of such a beautiful figure must also be beautiful.

What a shame to be replacing the head of a woman with that of a new collection in a new showroom. Is this what a woman?s head is worth? The head of the woman must certainly worth more than a new collection. The conceptual artist surely knows best and we do appreciate his right to expression and creativity. Furthermore, we cannot guess what he had in mind while designing the advertisement.

But a woman greeting with a Namaste with her head replaced by a board is a bit disturbing, especially that she does the real Namaste with her two hands pressed together near her heart.

There are lots of meaning in a ?Namaste?. It is the first salutation that one offers to somebody. It means, ?I bow to the divine in you?. As there are more than words in this gesture of greetings and honour, we need to see the face of the person doing the ?Namaste?.

?Namaste? is a veritable icon. It goes beyond greetings. It also conveys hospitality, spirituality and graceful consciousness but can a headless ?Namaste? convey all these meanings? The picture of a non-hindou gives even more credit to the design as it shows how culture can be cross-cutting.

?Namaste? reminds us in a very graphic manner the amount of respect that we have for the person in front of us. It is a very efficient gesture of respect. But in this case, it is not people who are at the receiving end but the products of Marbella, that is, doors, taps, tiles, etc.

A ?Nasmaste? can greet thousands of people, which the publicity tries to do but with material and not spiritual products. This is also the power of image. But unfortunately this gesture of friendship, kindness, gratitude and thanks loses its meaning with a headless woman however beautiful she may be and however good her yoga posture may be. A man with his head and a woman who has a head making their ?Namaste? would have given the design much more power. Men too can be grateful for what Marbella can offer.

There is so much human beauty and refinement in a ?Namaste? that this publicity could have gained so much by showing a woman with a head (women do have heads!) and a man with his head thanking Marbella.

By Loga VIRAHSAWMY