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Cultural presentation of village

Visakha : In our young and idealistic minds, John and I had hatched the brilliant idea of doing a photo essay about a quaint Indian village. We wanted to make a wonderful cultural presentation to help people appreciate traditional life. The problem was that there are thousands upon thousands of villages in India, and we had no idea which one would be suitable for our project. John said, "Srila Prabhupada has traveled extensively in India, so we should ask him where to go." We presented our idea to Prabhupada when he was in his room in the Akash Ganga Building. Prabhupada saw us, flushed with the fervor of youthful enthusiasm, and said, "You do not speak the language. Wherever you go they will simply cheat you and steal your cameras." We were silent and crestfallen. There was a pregnant pause as Prabhupada observed our reaction to his words. Then he said, "Best that you go to Vrindavan and do your photo essay there." So some four or five months later we did that. When Srila Prabhupada told us to go to Vrindavan it was only the second time he had seen me, and he knew nothing about me. My background was completely atheistic. My parents were atheists, and until I went to the ISKCON temple in New York, about a year or so before I met Srila Prabhupada, I had never been inside any church, synagogue, or a temple of any sort . . . not even to see the stained glass. It was by Srila Prabhupada's instruction that John and I went to Vrindavan, and now looking back on it three decades later, Srila Prabhupada could not have given me more appropriate guidance. The month that we spent in Vrindavan transformed me. For weeks I wandered the Vrindavan streets and gradually became moved by the devotion of the Vaishnavas there, who were ever ready with the friendly greeting, "Jai Radhe!" Foremost in their simple lives was faith in and service to Radha-Krishna. Prabhupada's instruction to live in that divine environment was perfect for me.


Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 2 by Siddhanta Dasa