Prabhupada offered the arati to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta

Balavanta : When Prabhupada offered the arati to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, it was a gorgeous sight to behold. The way he offered the paraphernalia was astounding. Every movement was perfectly coordinated and the circles that he made were like an orbit. But somehow or other, in setting up the arati tray, the devotees hadn't put a bowl for the conch shell water.

As temple president, I was standing next to Prabhupada, holding the arati tray. He offered the water in the conch, and it was time to put a little bit into a container, but there was no container. He looked at me, and I looked around into the sea of devotees, motioning for someone to get a container from the kitchen or the pujari room. But everyone's attention was on Prabhupada.

Conceivably, Prabhupada could have gone on and done another offering, but he wouldn't. He was standing there waiting. It became a crisis, and it became apparent that I wasn't going to be able to solve the crisis quickly and easily. Finally, with a flip of his wrist, Prabhupada shot the water from the conch shell into tulasi's pot on the vyasasana. When he did that, the kirtana stopped just long enough for everyone to go, "Haribol! Haribol!"