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...
It was about a month back that I first got a mail, inviting me to participate in the Mia by Tanishq contest. The mail mentioned the TV ad running then, and I realised how disconnected I was, with happenings on the TV front! I am usually reluctant to participate in contests (as most of you know well by now) and my first instinct was to refuse. Besides, it was barely a week since my father-in-law had passed on, and I had the perfect excuse too. But, I must admit, I was curious. Both, about the ad, as well as the tag line for the contest – As Beautiful as your work! Amidst all the work at home, I managed to grab one look at the ad.... And the first person I thought of, was my sister. I could so imagine her as Megha, with her taste in ear rings. She has just begun work, and I wondered if she would react like Megha too. And I hoped she would. After all, I am the one who gets her ear rings of every shape and size!!!!!