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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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Travelling with the WD Wireless Passport Pro

Happy New Year, friends!





2017 brought me lots of travel, to new destinations, as well as lots of inspiration. However, it also brought along a massive writer's block which I am still trying to overcome. So here I begin this New Year with my latest attempt to break the jinx, hoping this is the year I finally manage to bring the blog up to date with all my travels!

If you have followed me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, you would know that I have just returned from two trips - one to the Konkan with my husband, and the other to Ahmedabad with my son, a friend, and her son. The two trips were very different, to different types of destinations, what different points of interest as well. However, as usual, they included a mix of nature and heritage, since these are my two main interests these days.

Common Kingfisher, Abloli, Konkan.



And yet another thing was common between the two trips. I carried along the WD Wireless Passport Pro, which I had received for a trial.



Ancient image of Vishnu from the Lakshmi Narayan temple, Shrivardhan. 



Now, before I begin, let me warn you not to expect a typical review about the device, its specifications, its performance, etc. That isn’t, and never has been, my forte. What I intend to tell you, is how I used it, and how useful it was, to me.



One of the biggest challenges I face during my travels is to share images captured on my camera. My trusted Nikon P510 is a wonderful camera, but doesn’t have the latest features like Wi-Fi which would allow me to connect it to my phone.  I usually have to wait until I get back home before I can download the images or videos from my camera and then share them. This usually means no videos, or no images of birds captured on my travels till I return home and have had time to download my images.

With the WD Wireless Passport Pro, this huge problem was solved easily. All I had to do was download the MyCloud app, and use it to select the images or videos I wanted, from the memory card. All the images shared in this post were shared by me on Instagram, from the road, thanks to this one gadget I carried along.

Sun Temple at Modhera, Gujarat




Short Eared Owl, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat


I found it remarkably easy to use, which is saying something, considering that I am not too handy with gadgets. Besides, it charged quite quickly, and I was able to also use it as a power bank, to charge my mobile.

Video of birds at Thol Bird Sanctuary, near Ahmedabad, Gujarat

If there is one negative, it is that it is quite heavy, certainly heavier than the power bank I usually carry. And it took some getting used to the MyCloud app before I was able to use it.

Wild Asses, at the Wild Ass Sanctuary, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat


Note. This is not a sponsored post, but my honest review. I received the WD Wireless Passport Pro for review, and returned it after the trial.

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