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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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Ganesha on Facebook

As I do every year, this year too, I will take you along with me as I visit Ganeshas in and around my locality. I start the series today with our favourite Ganesha at the moment. This Ganesha has been installed in our neighbouring building, and Samhith went over to take a look as soon as it arrived. He came back all agog at the theme.....





The Facebook idea seemed to strike a chord with him! For the first time, he grasped the idea of a 'theme'. He dragged me to see the Ganesha, and actually spent a long time looking at all the small details. He especially liked the idea of cutting the poster to make space for placing the idol! Considering that he now knows how to chat with his aunts and uncles on Facebook (of course, he is only allowed when I am around!), he was also excited to see who who was 'online'.... the only thing he didnt understand was the 'poke'! "Why would anyone want to poke anyone? And would anyone like it if they were poked?" was his question... Any answers????


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Comments

  1. Indrani GhoseSeptember 3, 2011 at 10:09 AM

    That is a great idea well executed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. aJSeptember 3, 2011 at 7:12 PM

    Hehe... that question bowled me out :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anu ShankarSeptember 4, 2011 at 12:59 PM

    Yes, Indrani! we loved it and told the organisers too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anu ShankarSeptember 4, 2011 at 1:00 PM

    Yes, Aakash! it bowled me over too! kids come up with most interesting questions!

    ReplyDelete

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