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Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

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...
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Rufous Treepie

Here is another bird we have seen before, but never managed a decent shot - the Rufous Treepie.



It is quite a conspicuous bird, with its distinctive colour and tail. It was rather a surprise to learn that it belongs to the crow family!


We saw this bird at Chittorgarh.I was busy photographing the monuments, when a sudden movement caught my eye. I turned, and having the camera in my hand, started clicking away. This seemed to surprise our driver, because he called out to me, "Madam, aap kahan photo nikal rahe ho? Tower toh wahan pe hai!" (Madam, what are you photographing? the tower is there!) The sound was enough to scare the bird away, but thankfully I had enough shots to keep me happy!




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