Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik

At the heart of the hysteria over the peacock's tears is Hinduism's great discomfort with sex. Ever since the British made fun of Hindus for being sexual, sensual, and feminine, Hindus especially have been out to prove them wrong. And, this has led to bizarre, even grotesque, manipulations of Hindu lore, the most recent being the public declaration that peacocks reproduce not via sex but via tears. It mirrors the famous story of how a drop of Hanuman's sweat, rendered potent by his celibacy, had the power to make a fish pregnant.