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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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An offering to David Sassoon

A week has gone by since I last wrote something, and, in an effort to break this dry spell, here is a random photo from the recently concluded KGAF 2014...





The David Sassoon Library or DSL is a landmark in Fort, and those who enter, are greeted by this larger-than-life size statue of David Sassoon, who was probably the most well known among the Baghdadi Jews of Mumbai. We began our Jewish History walk at the fest here, and, while waiting for the walk to start, noticed this interesting offering, thanks to Sudha Ganapathy...



What you see at Sassoon's feet is the humble Vada Pav - probably the cheapest and the most popular among street food in the city. The ones here were being offered to guests at the launch of an exhibition of David Sassoon's contribution to the city, and someone had left one plate at his feet... A symbolic offering, should we say?

So, do you think David Sassoon would have relished that plate of Vada Pav? 

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Location: Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 17, 2014 at 9:25 PM

    Never heard of this personality. I will definitely look at him in Google. The offering picture is really funny. I thought Vada pav has achieved a great promotion by replacing the traditional Prasad in temples.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarFebruary 18, 2014 at 12:24 PM

      Rachit, it sad that many people havent heard of him, though he has built so many of the beautiful buildings around Fort in Mumbai. and it is interesting to see how people from different backgrounds and religions lived in harmony in mumbai and made the city what it is today.

      Delete
  2. Veena BhatMarch 3, 2014 at 1:12 PM

    Sasoon Docks where we can buy fish is named after him too.

    ReplyDelete

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