January 13, 1973 : Bombay
Srutakirti: For six weeks Srila Prabhupada stayed at the flat of Kartikeya Mahadevia. From the ground floor there was a very small two-man elevator that was used to get to Srila Prabhupada's rooms. This morning, Srila Prabhupada, Tamal Krishna Goswami and I went toward the elevator on the way to the morning walk. As Srila Prabhupada's servant, I expected to get into the elevator with him, but Tamal Krishna Goswami went in first so there was no room for me.
As the doors closed, I quickly turned and ran down two flights of stairs. I arrived at the elevator doors just in time to open them for Srila Prabhupada and help him out of the elevator. As we walked away, Tamal Krishna Maharaja looked at me and laughed. "Srila Prabhupada," he said, "Srutakirti is really expert." "Yes," Srila Prabhupada replied. "Kirti means expert." He continued toward the car without commenting further on the subject.
Being Srila Prabhupada's servant was filled with adventure and suspense. Whatever was going on seemed to be filled with a certain electricity. Every month I had the opportunity to shave Srila Prabhupada's head with the electric clippers. Srila Prabhupada was not a passive recipient during this process. He moved around and that made me more frightened. He very kindly helped me to be "Prabhupada conscious."
"Turn the shaver off in between each stroke so it doesn't get hot," he instructed. This wasn't very difficult, but the tricky part was shaving around his ears. "Be careful of my ears," he said whenever I got close to them. I was very careful. By Krishna's grace there was never a mishap during this service. It also gave me the opportunity to put many devotees into ecstasy by distributing Srila Prabhupada's hair.
As the doors closed, I quickly turned and ran down two flights of stairs. I arrived at the elevator doors just in time to open them for Srila Prabhupada and help him out of the elevator. As we walked away, Tamal Krishna Maharaja looked at me and laughed. "Srila Prabhupada," he said, "Srutakirti is really expert." "Yes," Srila Prabhupada replied. "Kirti means expert." He continued toward the car without commenting further on the subject.
Being Srila Prabhupada's servant was filled with adventure and suspense. Whatever was going on seemed to be filled with a certain electricity. Every month I had the opportunity to shave Srila Prabhupada's head with the electric clippers. Srila Prabhupada was not a passive recipient during this process. He moved around and that made me more frightened. He very kindly helped me to be "Prabhupada conscious."
"Turn the shaver off in between each stroke so it doesn't get hot," he instructed. This wasn't very difficult, but the tricky part was shaving around his ears. "Be careful of my ears," he said whenever I got close to them. I was very careful. By Krishna's grace there was never a mishap during this service. It also gave me the opportunity to put many devotees into ecstasy by distributing Srila Prabhupada's hair.
Reference: What Is The Difficulty? - Srutakirti Dasa
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