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...
“I have never seen so many cameras at once!” was my first thought as I entered the Old Magazine House at Ganeshgudi, near Dandeli. I already knew of Ganeshgudi as a haunt of ardent birdwatchers, but even that hadn’t prepared me for their cameras or the size of the telescopic lenses which greeted us on our arrival! I wondered if I would be able to see any birds with my humble camera, and if I would even be able to take it out amidst such magnificent specimens! As it turned out, I needn’t have worried. While most of the ardent birding enthusiasts were indeed focused on getting the perfect images, there were enough birds around for us to see, and close enough for even me to get some decent clicks! However, the best part of Ganeshgudi was that we didn’t have to go to see the birds – they came to us! All we had to do was sit quietly and observe!