Singer-actress Selena Gomez has turned many heads with her sassy collegiate-themed photoshoot for a sportswear brand inside a school library. But she may have hardly thought it would evoke a sharp response from many Indians due to their feelings of reverence for books and respect as booklovers.
In her third collaboration with Puma, she is posing while standing and sitting on books.
The photographs are evoking a wave of responses on microblogging site Twitter from Indians, many of them condemning the 27-year-old for hurting their feelings.
In India, books are also considered akin to the Goddess Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, wisdom, and learning. Many people here touch books to their forehead as a sign of remorse in case they step on a book or it gets dropped on the floor by them.
However, some contradicted the view point and called it a mere cultural difference.
The new ruby-inspired collection also grabbed the headlines because it has a few personal details about Selena – a "92" imprinted on apparel, as well as a semi-colon, as a reference to the year she was born and tattoo on her wrist.