Dear Maharaja,
PAMHO. AGTSP. All glories to your service.
HpS - ASA -- Radhika says enough. (With regards to you not appearing in the YouTube video)
I think everyone here will agree we can never have enough HPS.
HpS - ASA -- Durga Puja is Sept 26th.
Rama-vijaya is 30th.
Bengal is on holiday until 30th, I think.
So, 29th August, Radhastami in Hawaii, 3rd September in Australia, Vamana-dvadasi and three more BIG holidays. Hmmmm????? Any comments from anyone????
The 3rd is good. What’s your current itinerary/preferences if any? Last time you visited Brisbane/Gold Coast/Murwillumbah, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Are you planning same again? How long would you like to stay in each location? As soon as we have an idea of locations and dates we can fix dates for programs.
<sub>HpS-ASA -- If possible just meet some people personally and introduce yourself, and then give them the link to the Peru conference and then if they want more we can have a conference call etc.</sub>
Yes certainly. I can arrange everything in regards to university programs from here “no worries mate” (maharaja). I’m currently touching base with Bhakti clubs at Universities in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. I already know most of the devotees personally so no small talk needed. Actually the only devotee I don’t know already personally says he has assisted you before in Houston. Radha Vinod prabhu(Ravi Jadhaw). He is managing the Bhakti club at University of New South Wales (top university) and is very eager to have you visit.
So if you are comfortable with Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne I will go ahead and arrange the university programs there. If you require any assistance in corresponding with local temples for accommodation, programs etc. I can certainly help there also. I’m not sure how arrangements were made for your last visit as Raktak Ji was still here making rotis then. At this point I haven’t been considering Perth in regards to University programs. Western Australia is practically another country for me so I’m not sure who or what goes on over there but if you need any assistance for Perth I can certainly try help.
Jai Hanuman!!
Ys
Dhruvananda Das
Australia
HpS - AGTSP, Mate!!! Paoho.... Thank you so much for the letter. We have been looking for tickets. Seems best flight to Hawaii is from San Francisco and from Hawaii to Sidney via Jetstar. Is it and O.K? airlines? Preaching programs will depend on our contacts there also. Like last time Dr. Samaresh arranged a strong program with Dr. Mabbett.
Recollecting Raktaka
We mentioned his recollections of being young fellow and begging at Hanuman Temple. Another experience was when we were traveling with Nadia-rasa puri. I knew here and here parents when she was like four years old, then I met here maybe 18-years later when she was 22-years old. She wanted to go to India so her mother asked if she could go with us. Her father had left her mother and I guess here also many years earlier.
I said it was O.K. as long as we had other devotess in the party. There were several and Raktaka Das was one of them. There was interesting experience in Naimisaranya, but I will just tell what happend in Fazilka, Raktaka's home town.
We were visiting there. His family had a very, very small, house packed in on one street with other very lower class residences. During the day everyone just moved out into the street shuck peas, talk, live. Acros the street was Mr. Khuranna. He was a lawyer and landowner.
One day he took us all, maybe 8-devotees, to go the Flag Down ceremony at the Pakistan-India frontier. I think M. Rohini and Ananga-manajari and some others were with us??
Anyway, it was only like a 20-minute drive from Fazilka to the border and on the road we passed a de-militarized zone that was full of land mines, and bunker for immiate troop occupation. There was a double fence at the border and the road came down to a big gate in the fence that could be opened up to allow traffic to go between India and Pakisthan, but never was.
On both sides of the borders there were little military barracks. Maybe twenty five Pakistani and 25-Indian soldiers on both sides.
This was a real case of Mano dharma, because even though they were ready to shoot at each other they probably were even cousins from just the other side of a chain link fence, what to speak of all spirit souls, servants of Krsna.
Well, we got there on time and the sun was setting and the Indian Captain put us in kind of a formal observation place on the roof where we could watch the ceremony and VIPS. Then they stood at attention on both sides and blew trumpets and saluted and marched and took down this flag, then that flag and then folded them in a coordinated effort.
Then we were going to go and Raktaka Das, who had been in the military, told me, "Really impressive sight, no?", and I said, "Yes", and he said, "It was a really impressive how they honor their respective countries, but, 18-25 year old soliders. Alone out here day after day, and a 22-year old chaste, pretty white girl is sitting looking at them. What do you think every single one of them is thinking about and trying to catch a glimpse of out of the corner of their eye?"
I laugher at the wisdom of Raktaka Das. He was on the level of Jnana-maya by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada.