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 just got through my most hectic weekend ever! What did I do? Well, I attended the Landmark Forum . Never heard of it? I hadn’t too, till last month, when my husband attended it, and convinced me to try it out too….. It is too difficult to express in words exactly what the Forum is, or what it does, and I can only say what they tell us in their brochures – that they help us ‘transform’ our lives. Yes, ‘transform’, not ‘change’. They also assure us that we can open up infinite possibilities for ourselves. So I am sure your next question is: “Did they live up to their promise?” Well, I am not hedging when I say that I am not quite sure as of now. What they have managed to do, is make me think – about myself, my family, my perceptions… everything that is part of my life. They have made me rethink my image of myself, and have certainly opened up new avenues of thought. As to the actual transformation, it is something I have to do myself, obviously. Whether I am able to hold ...