Wee Cumbrae was certainly looking picturesque as I zoomed my Nikon S9050 upon its castle when visiting Hunterston recently - but all seemed very quiet. Click!

The small isle was at the centre of the worldwide media spotlight back in 2009 when the Poddar family of Glasgow, who own a number of care homes, purchased it to great fanfare.

On a special opening day celebration, Indian yoga guru Swami Ramdev visited the remote outpost, with the event being televised live on Indian television, broadcast to over 80 million people.

Before one of the most incredible press conferences that I have ever witnessed, we watched the fitness maestro rolling his stomach, and performing a whole range of stretching exercises on the shore. Some of them had to be seen to be believed in terms of the limit to which the human body could be expanded. I remember pottering around the fascinating interior of the medieval castle with my former ‘News’ colleague David Walker as we waited for the ceremony, which included inspirational speeches from the then North Ayrshire Provost Bobby Rae, the Poddars, and many more.

It was an amazing cultural combination of traditional Scots and Indian music and dancing - like a cross between Slumdog Millionaire and The White Heather Club - surreal indeed but it all somehow worked.

There was a wonderful Indian feast of healthy food to behold, and it was a magical day on the island, as the sun shone for our international visitors.

I spoke to some of the Indian travellers who had saved up all their rupees, some with ailing health, after they had journeyed half way across the globe just to get a sight of their great guru Swami Ramdev. They told me the positive difference that he had made upon their lives, and how honoured they were to be there - it really brought it home.

The next day, pictures of Swami and his stretching techniques with the picturesque background of the Clyde appeared on front pages from The Times to The Scotsman - if publicity was the aim of the day, it had been achieved in every respect.

Since then, the island and its exploits have not been anywhere near as high profile, although a BBC News broadcast in Hindu for one of their worldwide channels last year did show a large group going through a range of exercises, including laughter classes, on the island in front of the Little Cumbrae House. It has a magnificent backdrop - you can see the first lighthouse, built by James ewing, on Lighthouse Hill in 1757. This was the second lighthouse in Scotland.

An open fire was lit at the top of a circular stone tower at the summit of the island. Former Largs and Millport News photographer Walter Kerr took pictures and video footage inside the old lighthouse, which was recently released as part of a DVD. My own picture of the isle from Hunterston was re-tweeted by Carole Barrowman, the co-author of the Hollow Earth children’s fantasy books, which were set on both Great and Wee Cumbrae.

Since a boy, I have always looked across and wondered what it was like to set foot on the terrain.

When that day finally came in 2009, despite the surrounding pandemonium, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders as I looked all around at the wilderness behind me. It was extremely calming and beautiful.

Just a few months after my visit, the big welcome sign which had been erected for Wee Cumbrae explaining the yoga and health treatments on offer with a picture of Swami Ramdev and a fellow guru was found in the sands of Portencross, looking weather beaten.

I assumed it was after some kind of winter storm - the kind we have become so familiar with in recent winters - but while the news from the island also seems to have washed away into the ether, it would appear that from the recent BBC broadcast, that the yoga retreat is still active