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...
The most interesting activities offered by the Poovar Island Resort are the variety of backwater cruises in a fishing boat. The day can begin with an hour long bird watching cruise, followed by a 2 hour island cruise in the evening and the night can be brought in by the sunset cruise. Of course, each of these cruises have their own attractions, but when we were there, it was the wrong season for bird watching (the summer sees very few birds – the best is winter), and clouds had already started arriving, heralding the monsoon and darkening the skies, so the sunset cruise was out too. However, we made the most of the island cruise. Join me in reliving the wonderful experience……….. Seeting off on our journey, with a prayer to the Lord.... A shrine errected on the beach after the Tsunami that wreaked havoc.... Fishing Boats.... And the fishing village.... The sparkling waters.... And the roaring waves dashing against the beach.... Fat, orange, juicy Pineapples - or so w...