The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
Having finished with the distant Ganesha pandals , we decided to head for a shorter trip closer home in Chembur. Two of the oldest and most popular Ganeshas in Chembur are those at R.K. Studios and the Duke’s Factory. Of course, there are other bigger Ganeshas too – the Chembur-cha Raja in Camp and the many others in the vicinity, and the extravagant Tilak Nagar Ganesha, but these usually have a long queue waiting for darshan, something for which I lack patience. We started with the aim of visiting just these two Ganeshas, but managed a couple more interesting ones on the way. Come, take a look…. We started with the Ganesha at the Duke’s factory – that’s the one making the famous ‘Duke’s Soda’. The factory employees have installed a Ganesha here for years, and it is one of the most popular ones, for they not only have a huge idol of the lord, but also work hard for the theme of the year.