Sarasvati is India's goddess of pen and ink; even as children she was our favourite partly because, unlike other Hindu goddesses, Sarasvati is not always multiple-armed but usually modelled as a graceful young woman with flowing black hair; she is dressed in a tinselled sari and holds a vina, the beautiful stringed instrument like a long-necked guitar made from a gourd. Beside her is a swan, her symbol.