The Bookaholic

I'm fairly speechless about the headline to this article about the "Tooting man" who is believed to be a Hindu goddess?!? Besides feeling flabbergasted about the fact that a man claims to be a goddess (and the villagers believe him), I couldn't help but laugh about all the references to his hometown in England.

JOBLESS Steve Cooper has found work at last — as an Indian GODDESS who thousands of Hindus believe can cure their infertility.

Pilgrims head to a remote jungle temple to be blessed by Steve, 32, from Tooting, South West London.

He places his third finger on the their foreheads and mutters: “The goddess is here”.

Surrounded by followers, Steve told The Sun: “I love being here. I don’t miss anything about Tooting.

Stop laughing!! This is serious work he's now doing. Apparently he forgot to tell his brother back in Tooting about his new job in India.

But last night Steve’s stunned brother Justin Cooper said: “He’s just an ordinary guy.

“He never told me anything about this.”

It also seems that not all villagers are convinced that Steve is qualified to be a goddess:

Steve now follows a strict vegetarian diet and sleeps in a spartan room. He lives among 80 eunuchs — castrated men — at the temple. But some have their doubts that he is equipped to be a goddess.

A eunuch called Sudha said: “He is a fake. I checked and he still has a penis. (uh-oh!)

“He is a male so can’t be a goddess. He shouldn’t give blessings.” Steve, who has a tattoo of the goddess on his arm, just insisted: “I am both male and female.”

Fair enough. I was just wondering if there was anyone out there who could confirm the veracity of this Tooting man's claims to be a goddess.

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8/9/07 Chinesepod Lesson: Introducing Oneself to the Family

nobody@vox.com(Brian) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 22:34:51 -0700

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The ultimate measure of a...

nobody@vox.com(Brian) — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 19:35:21 -0700

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
-- Martin Luther King Jr.

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All truly great thoughts are...

nobody@vox.com(Brian) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:18:43 -0700

All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.

- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

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