tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71646903307235103392024-03-13T08:02:24.289-07:00Krishna Culture Festival TourUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164690330723510339.post-53518817091443110692007-09-08T20:40:00.000-07:002007-09-08T21:37:03.150-07:00Final Installment: Vancouver to Alachua<span style="font-weight: bold;">August 13, Monday, ISKCON Boise, Idaho.</span><br /><br />Last night we left Vancouver later than expected. We crossed the US border by midnight and drove diagonally across the state of Washington, from northwest to the southeast, past the Mt. Rainier volcano, through forests, and across dry plateaus. It is on one such arid plateau that we find ourselvs right now, in the Yakima Indian Reservation. Irrigation ditches deliver water to fruit farms. Apple orchards line the highway on both sides. The sky above the eastern horizon is beginning to light up, getting ready for another day. Namamrita, the driver-keeper-upper, is talking to Sacinandana Prabhu, one of our bus drivers. What is a driver-keeper-upper? Well, as the name suggests, he or she keeps the driver awake. Each of us take turns on a rotation system based on our roll call number to serve a one-hour shift as driver-keeper-upper. We carry on a conversation with the bus driver, about our life story, the events of the previous day, college or career goals, devotional aspirations, the scenery, the cracks in the windshield (last night an owl hit our windshield.)<br /><br />It's getting light outside. We look for a store that sells butter - the breakfast plan is pancakes. We stop at a gas station. They don't have any. We drive on. We stop at a K-mart. Sorry, nope. What kind of place is this? No butter? No food stores open this early in the morning? Okay, we settle for yogurt instead. We fall back on ye ole backup staple breakfast food, granola. At a rest area outside of town, we set up camp. Narayani carries the Gaura-Nitai deities on Their portable altar and sets them onto a picnic table. She also brings out her Jagannath deities, which she has been caring for since she was a child. We huddle around the deities for a spiritual morning program while the breakfast prep team gets everything ready for breakfast. Granola with yogurt and bananas taste great when you're in the middle of nowhere and hungry. Luckily we have a half a container of soy milk left for the three lactose intolerant people on our crew. We wash our bowls at a water spigot, bring the deities back onto the bus, and continue our journey.<br /><br />Interstate 82 winds its way southeast, following the Yakima river to the historic Columbia River, where it merges with I-84. We cross into northeastern Oregon. We take I-84 east through the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Blue Mountains, the Columbia Plateau. I make an announcement over the megaphone. "If you look out of the bus over here, you'll see remnants of an old trail... you can see the deep ruts in the ground where wagons used to cross this part of the country. It's the historic Oregon Trail used by early settlers of this part of the country, as they moved with their families on horseback and covered wagons to settle the wild, wild West. Every now and then you can still see the remains of wagons that didn't make it, the old rusty wagon wheels and chassis lying by the side of the trail." Kumari and Kalindi look unimpressed. They poke their nose right back into the Harry Potter book they're reading. Oh well... Soon we will cross over the Snake River, and make our way into Boise, the capital city of Idaho. (Somewhere along there we stopped for lunch.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ISKCON Boise Temple, Idaho</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNtNH57omI/AAAAAAAAALE/mZ9CKc_HvDI/s1600-h/boise_temple.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNtNH57omI/AAAAAAAAALE/mZ9CKc_HvDI/s200/boise_temple.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108046474596033122" border="0" /></a><br />As we begin to meander through the streets of Boise, looking for the temple, someone pulls in front of our bus with his car and signals us to follow him. We get a call on our cell phone. It's Nathan Prabhu, who has been coordinating our Boise visit. He was driving home from work early and noticed the buses on the highway. He is calling to let us know that we should follow him to the temple, and that all is going as planned. We will be performing in the temple room after evening arati. The devotees have cooked prasadam for us, and they're excited about our visit and are ready to serve.<br /><br />This is our first ever visit to the ISKCON Boise temple, so we're not sure what to expect. We know the temple is run by a devotee family, the Guptas, and we're thinking maybe it's in their living room... so as we pull into a residential neighborhood, through winding, narrow streets lined with apartments and brick houses, we're surprised to find a large brick building with a beautiful sign announcing the BOISE HARE KRISHNA TEMPLE AND VEDIC CULTURAL CENTER. See their website: http://www.boisetemple.org/ Somehow they've connected what seems to have been two houses, put a superstructure of a dome on top, and created a spacious temple for Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Bankebihari, Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, and Their Lordships Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra. Stained glass panels line the windows of the temple room, depicting Krishna and His ten principal incarnations. The deities reside atop an ornately carved teak wood altar. The temple was apparently designed by Boise architect Bruce Poe. It is located on 1615 Martha Street.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNtcn57onI/AAAAAAAAALM/uZB5RR_4rYg/s1600-h/boise_deities.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNtcn57onI/AAAAAAAAALM/uZB5RR_4rYg/s200/boise_deities.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108046740884005490" border="0" /></a>Our festival tour youth get ready to perform DEVOTION, the dance-drama they've staged at halls, auditoriums and at festivals across North America this summer. Originally, we were supposed to put on this show at Boise State University, but somehow promotion of the event didn't pan out in time and the venue was moved to the Boise Hare Krishna Temple. ... Our dancers are changing into their costumes in an apartment across the street. Our actors are getting ready in the back yard of the temple, next to the kitchen. I give them a pep talk about how every performance, big and small, matters. How once again, if we give it our best, next year the devotees will be more enthusiastic to book a theater at Boise State University for this show.<br /><br />His Holiness Chandramauli Swami is in town. At 7:00 p.m., after evening arati kirtana, Chandramauli Swami gives a short lecture about the processes of devotional service. At 7:30 p.m., the show starts. The area in front of the altar has been set aside as a makeshift stage of sorts, and guests and resident devotees fill the remaining half of the temple room, facing the altar. DEVOTION begins with an energetic Bharata-natyam dance to introduce the nine processes of devotional service to Krishna, followed by the intro scene with Maharaja Pariksit and Shukadeva Goswami emphasizing the importance of hearing about the Lord.<br /><br />A television crew arrives to shoot an interview with Ravi Gupta, son of the temple president, about Hinduism's non-violent stance on a local political issue. Ravi (whose initiated name is Radhika Raman Das) uses the opportunity to introduce our Krishna culture and asks the TV crew to film part of our performance in the temple room as a backdrop for their news story. The cameraman enters the temple in between scenes and sets his camera on the tripod. Enter stage left, Hiranyakashipu, a menacing demon with face painted black with demonic, evil looking strokes. The demon proceeds to interrogate and torture a little boy, his son, Prahlad, for refusing to abandon his faith in Krishna, and provokes the appearance of the Lord as Narasimhadeva. A fierce half-man, half-lion jumps onto the stage. The cameraman jumps up from behind his camera. A fight breaks out. The demon Hiranyakashipu and the Lord of the Universe battle in rehearsed, coordinated blows and punches. The live drums, flute and violin play frantic battle strokes. Children cry in the audience. Narasimhadeva throws the demon across His lap, and in a final blow, tears out his intestines with His divine nails. Jaya! Haribol! The devotees are chanting, "tava kara kamala vare nakham adbhuta shringam..." a traditional prayer to Lord Narasimhadeva, protector of His devotees. The female television reporter and her cameraman are speechless. They've come to film a piece for the nightly news about the non-violence of Hindus and walk into the most violent scene of our performance. The gentleman packs away his camera and gets ready to leave. Meanwhile, our Bharata-natyam dancers come on stage to perform scene three: Lord Narayana reclining on the serpent Ananta Shesha, with Goddess Lakshmi massaging His feet. The dancers are dressed in exquisite, sparkling outfits, and the choreography is charming. The female reporter motions enthusiastically to her cameraman. He quickly unpacks his gear, mounts it on the tripod, and films the dancers acting out this peaceful pastime.<br /><br />After the performance, the actors and dancers mingle with the audience comprised of maybe 50 guests, and receive praise and over $1,150 in donations, the most they've ever received. Hanuman, the monkey soldier (played by Kalindi A.), is especially popular with the little children. They pose for a group photo with him. A sumptuous vegetarian feast is served. Several vegetable dishes, opulent rice, chutney, puris, soup, salad, fruit salad, strawberry drink, home-made pistachio and mango ice cream, sweet rice pudding... I am amazed. I sit and eat with Radhika Raman Prabhu and we talk about the television interview and about his teaching Comparative Religions at university. The affection displayed by the Boise devotees is overwhelming. Just goes to show the sweet, personal mood of loving exchanges that seems to come with living in a small community, where devotee association is a rare treasure.<br /><br />At 10:00 p.m., there's a sudden commotion in the crowd. People rush out the door to an apartment across the street. I soon figure out it is to watch the late evening news. In response to a racist remark made by a local politician, the news anchor features a segment on Hinduism's belief in non-violence, a few words by Radhika Raman, and a clip of our dancers performing the Lakshmi Narayana dance.<br /><br />The bus drivers are letting me know that it's time to leave. It's onward to our next destination. One by one, I herd everyone back onto the buses. As we get ready to drive away, two little children call out for Hanuman. They want to say goodbye to Hanuman. We send someone to get Kalindi, the actress, from the back of the girl's bus, and she delights the kids as she comes to the front to wave goodbye.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 14, Tuesday, ISKCON Denver, Colorado.</span><br /><br />The drive from Boise to Denver takes us across the top of the Rocky Mountains. We're covering lots of territory on this last week of the tour. Interstate 84 southeast takes us through arid regions at first, until we descend into a valley and follow the Snake River for some time. Then we turn south, into the state of Utah, and, sometime in the middle of the night, pass north of Salt Lake City. We continue on highway 80 east into Wyoming. By the time everyone wakes up this Tuesday morning, we're halfway through the state of Wyoming, on a high plateau in between mountain ridges. We're heading into the Snowy Range, in the Medicine Bow National Forest, passing north of Medicine Bow Peak. I notice arrays of fortified snow fences which are used to prevent snow drifts from blowing onto the highway in the winter. There's no snow at this time of year. Just dry, tan colored earth, small stubbles of brush, and yellow grasses awaiting rain. We're approaching a mountain ridge in the distance. I see hundreds of windmills, wind generators lining the ridge, one after another, like stoic giants all facing in the same direction. They're converting the energy of the high winds in this part of the country into electricity for the nearby city of Laramie.<br /><br />We go through our usual routine of showering in the bus showers, stopping for a morning program, breakfast, and later lunch, at rest areas on the side of the highway. By mid afternoon, Premanjana is driving. We're about an hour away from Denver. Rain clouds are in the sky. As if it were a barometer responding to atmospheric pressure, a warning light flashes on the dashboard, "CHECK TRANSMISSION!" On the gear selector panel, there's another warning light, "DO NOT SHIFT!", flashing on and off, annoyingly. It's that old problem again, of the transmission acting up on us. The mysterious problem that the mechanics could not fix. "Sorry, we cannot replicate the problem you're having." Right... they'd have to ride with us for the entire summer tour and wait for those random moments when the warning lights come on, like right about now. We decide that we cannot afford a breakdown at this hour, and will just keep on driving until we get to the Denver temple. On and on we trudge, with the transmission warning lights flashing.<br /><br />Five miles to the Denver temple. Now it's raining. Time to get off the highway and into city traffic. We come to a complete stop at a traffic light. The light turns green. Premanjana presses the gas pedal. Nothing. The bus won't move. We're on a slight incline, and the bus begins to roll backwards into the cars behind us. He pops the parking break. We look at each other with a grin of helplessness. Try again. He floors the gas pedal, releases the parking break, and with the engine revving at 3000 RPM the bus inches forward, slowly, taking about a minute to make the turn ... meanwhile the light has turned red and we're blocking the intersection. Obviously there is something wrong with this transmission. The electronics are messed up or something. Whenever that "DO NOT SHIFT" light comes on, the computer that controls the transmission basically shuts down, or is in error mode, and the transmission is not responding to the normal shift patterns. And the worst is that there is nothing we can do about it. The mechanics can't help us. A new transmission costs $25,000 for this bus and we've just rebuilt this one, two years ago, for $15,000. The transmission specialits tested it twice on this tour already. We paid them a thousand dollars for their time to tell us that there is nothing wrong with the transmission. They think it could be an electronic problem. A wire somewhere on the bus shorting out, or not making enough connection, causing too much or too little voltage, triggering an error in the transmission computer. Great. Thanks for nothing.<br /><br />We inch forward and eventually clear the intersection. The bus picks up speed. We try to drive slow enough to coast through several green lights in a row, or approach red ones slowly in the distance, waiting for them to turn green. Try as we do, we can't avoid all stops. Three more times we struggle through intersections. Finally we pull into a parking space alongside the ISKCON Denver Hare Krishna temple. The transmission won't shift into neutral, so we put on the parking brake and leave it in drive. I let the youth off the bus, sending them to the Govinda's Restaurant across the street, and change into my work pants. Premanjana and I walk around the back of the bus and check the transmission fluid. We pull the dip stick several times, wipe it clean, check it again and again. The fluid level is correct. So I ask Premanjana to turn the engine off. I crawl underneath the back of the bus to check the connections to the sensor that measures the transmission fluid level. I am lying on my back on the tarmac, under the back of the bus, immediately behind the rear wheel. My head is resting against the tire, and my body is squashed between the tarmac and the bottom of the bus. There's less than an inch of space to clear my chest. Bits of dirt are falling into my eyes from the encrusted muck on the bus undercarriage above my face. Every move I make triggers crumbling dirt mixed with oil to fall on me. It's just a little bit claustrophobic. I blow dirt out of my teeth. Next I attempt to hold a flashlight with my teeth, trying to point it at the bottom of the transmission. I adjust my position. Now I'm lying immediately below the transmission. I feel hot fluid dripping onto my hands and arms, running to my elbows. I check the connection to the transmission fluid sensor. It's solid. Nothing should be going wrong here. I tighten the wire nuts. I inch myself out from under the bus. Now I'm covered in grease and black dirt mixed with oil from the undercarriage of the bus, and that gushy transmission fluid all over my arms, elbows, and shirt. One of the youth points to a black spot of grease on my nose. "Thanks, buddy," I reply.<br /><br />Premanjana switches the bus on again. The transmission warning lights go off. He can shift into gear and back to neutral. Seems like the computer has reset itself. Hopefully we'll make it home to Florida like this. Not good. Not good at all. Bad electronics. Baaaaad electronics. One bad wire, one loose connection somewhere is all it takes on a 15-year old bus. And there are three dozen wires going back and forth between the front and back of the bus, and between the electronics control boxes, fuse panels and the engine and transmission.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNuHX57ooI/AAAAAAAAALU/URu05_IgJ-M/s1600-h/denver_deities2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNuHX57ooI/AAAAAAAAALU/URu05_IgJ-M/s200/denver_deities2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108047475323413122" border="0" /></a>ISKCON Denver temple is a spiritual oasis in a working class, inner-city neighborhood. The presiding deities are Sri Sri Radha-Govinda. It's in East Denver, southeast of Denver City Park and Zoo. From Colorado Boulevard, go east on East Colfax Avenue for about four blocks and turn right onto Cherry Street. The temple is at the intersection of Cherry Street and East 14th Avenue, at 1400 Cherry Street. There's a nice Govinda's vegetarian restaurant, a gift shop, a spacious temple room... Several devotee homes line the street. We're here because Naikatma Prabhu, the temple president, has invited us to come. He saw our Krishna Culture Festival Tour performance, DEVOTION, at the Los Angeles temple Friday before Los Angeles Ratha-yatra, and was very enthusiastic to have us come to Denver and perform here. He wanted us to come for Janmashtami, but that would not have been possible this year. Most of our youth are college and university students, and have to be back in school before Janmashtami. So we've arranged to stop over on a Tuesday evening, canceling our plans for Great Sand Dunes National Park.<br /><br />The youth perform DEVOTION. The dancers and actors and musicians put their hearts into it, amazingly, after so many, many performances. My heart goes out to each one of them. Halfway through the show, I counted 15 lucky people in the audience, which included several small children. Mother Anapayini, the show's director, says that one lady came up to her afterwards and thanked her for this performance. The lady had been having a hard time, struggling in her devotional life, and seeing so many young people put on such an excellent production had given her new hope in a bright future for ISKCON. Who can know the mind of the Lord? Sometimes we perform for 500 people, sometimes for 15. And you never know what effect it will have on people. It's a test of our faith, that this is an offering of love for Krishna and the devotees... and that it should not matter how many people come to see the performance. Sri Sri Radha-Govinda were there. Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai were there... -- Yeah right. Now go and explain that to the youth. They feel I've let them down. After all, it was I who insisted on the change of plans to perform at the Denver temple instead of visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park.<br /><br />Nothing like a good plate of prasadam to cheer everyone up. It's 8:00 p.m. Govinda's Restaurant has closed to the public. Naikatma Prabhu is giving the youth free reign of the restaurant, all-we-can eat savories and salad bar. He apologises for the low turnout and wishes we could have stopped by during Janmashtami when there would be thousands of people at this temple. I thank Naikatma Prabhu for his kind hospitality. We are all trying our best to serve the Vaishnavas.<br /><br />It's that time of day again. Time to head out, back onto the long, long road, forever eastward bound. That sounds like one of those road trip songs. Now it's onto Interstate 70 east for a thousand straight miles across the great plains of Colorado and Kansas.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 15, Wednesday, Wilson Lake State Park, Kansas.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNvR357oqI/AAAAAAAAALk/GmwrVnu6KNk/s1600-h/wilson_turtle.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNvR357oqI/AAAAAAAAALk/GmwrVnu6KNk/s200/wilson_turtle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108048755223667362" border="0" /></a>Premanjana is driving when I wake up this morning. Priya is his keeper-upper. They're having an animated conversation about their plans for running ISKCON St. Louis as a youth temple. We're on a country road, green pastures all around, quite a change of scenery from the dry mountain regions we've come from. "There's the turn-off for Wilson Lake State Park," Priya points out. Yesterday we had looked at the map and tried to find a place halfway between Denver and St. Louis where the youth could relax for the day, to break up the long haul across the continent. We had found an off-the-beaten-path state park east of the city of Hays, Kansas, and are about to find out what it looks like. What kind of facility will it have? Bathrooms? Showers? Will the lake be clean enough for swimming?<br /><br />Half an hour later we arrive at the swimming beach of Wilson Lake. It's a clean, man-made lake, created by damming the Saline River. There are bathrooms with hot showers, but they're a fifteen-minute walk back up the road, at the state park camp ground. We do have toilets on the bus which work fine... and the lake is definitely swimmable. There's a beach to our left. It's quiet and peaceful here. It looks like we have the place all to ourselves this morning.<br /><br />Last night we had also decided that we were going to film certain scenes of our performance in the outdoors, at Wilson Lake, to make a DVD. We decide to film the intro scene where Shukadeva Goswami instructs Maharaja Pariksit, as well as the scene where Hanuman meets Rama and Lakshman by the sea shore. So our premier make-up artiste, Gundica, begins to manifest Hanuman on Kalindi's face, and she helps Basab, Govi, Balaram and Ganga with their make-up for Shukadeva, Pariksit, Rama and Lakshman. The actors change into costume. I get the camera equipment ready to film, near a bluff overlooking the lake.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNvFn57opI/AAAAAAAAALc/iseNWH5-T4Q/s1600-h/wilson_filming.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNvFn57opI/AAAAAAAAALc/iseNWH5-T4Q/s200/wilson_filming.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108048544770269842" border="0" /></a>"I'm going to film each scene three times. Once in wide-angle mode, showing all of the action from a distance. Then, close-ups of the individual actors. So if you can just run through the scene..." And so we film early in the morning with the lake in the background, before the sun casts shadows on the actor's faces. By the time we've finished those two scenes, most of the youth have woken up and are ready to go for a morning swim in the lake. Or not. "I don't think so," Nadia winces. "I'll walk to the hot showers." While some of us swim in this beautiful lake, others head up the road to the campsite for those irresistible "hot showers."<br /><br />The youth have the day off to relax. Throughout the day, some participate in spontaneous bhajans under the trees. Some are reading their favorite books, some are playing games, some are swimming across the lake (yours truly couldn't resist), some are catching up on their japa. By 2:00 p.m., Satvata Prabhu and a crew of helpers have cooked lunch on the bus kitchen. Lots of wheat burritos (like chapatis), filled with fresh salad ingredients. There's watermelon to quench our thirst. I'm sitting in the shade under a tree and this hot wind is blowing at me--like having a blow-dryer on that you cannot turn off--quickly drying my wet swim shorts and dehydrating my skin. Soon I have a really bad sunburn. I had underestimated the strength of the sun out here on the plains in Kansas. I had reminded other people to put on sun screen and should have followed my own advice.<br /><br />By 4:30 p.m. we've had enough of the hot wind and summer sun beating beating down on us from all sides. We prepare to leave. Promises of a WALMART and air-conditioning lure gullible young people back onto their buses. (I've never seen them board the buses so fast!) Dinner will be served at the WALMART in Salina, on our way to St. Louis.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 16, Thursday, ISKCON St. Louis, Missouri.</span><br /><br />I'm woken up by someone shaking my leg. "Manu, what's the exit for the St. Louis temple?" I mull over the question in my head for a second and reply, "I have no idea. I've never been there before." I'm still half asleep. I crawl out of my bunk bed and ask to see the map. I know from the address list at the back of one of our books that our temple is on Lindell Boulevard. I find Lindell on the close-up map of St. Louis. It's a street that's only ten blocks long, so the temple must be somewhere along there. I also know that the temple is supposedly next to St. Louis University, which is easy to spot on the map. "Take the Grand Avenue exit," I advise. "That should take us to Lindell. Make a left on Lindell and hopefully we'll see the temple somewhere along there."<br /><br />We take the Grand Avenue exit. We see the well-kept historic buildings of St. Louis University. We turn left onto Lindell. We pass a "Mulah Temple" that looks like it manifested out of an Aladdin story, ornately decorated. It is apparently a Shriner temple. "Nope, that's not it. Keep on going." We see modern hotels and restaurants, serving the student community. We see a Domino's Pizza place and .... "Hold on, stop right here. Isn't that... what does that sign say?" Yup. Just before the pizza place there is an old brick building with a crumbling facade, paint peeling, and some 1970s plastic lettering announcing INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS, FOUNDER ACHARYA HIS DIVINE GRACE A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA. On the patio, an older man with a sikha is digging in a pile of earth.<br /><br />"This is it," Dravinaksha Prabhu exclaims from the top driver bunk. He's looking sideways out of his window, at the temple building. "I remember this place from the old Radha-Damodar days."<br /><br />This is it. We park the buses at the parking meters across the street. I run inside the temple, along with an advance troupe, to find Pancha Tattva Prabhu, the temple president. He gives us a quick tour of the bathroom and shower situation. We then go back to the buses to inform the youth, who gradually get up and head for the bathrooms. It turns out that the girls prefer to use the on-board bus bathrooms, two showers, two toilets, rather than the one shower upstairs in the guest quarters of the temple. So we leave that bus running, to provide hot water (the engine hot water heats the shower hot water system).<br /><br />Most of us make it to the temple room in time for greeting of the deities (Sri Sri Krishna Balarama, and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai) and gurupuja at 7:15 a.m. Amala Purana Dasa leads an enthusiastic kirtana. I'm not sure who is giving the morning lecture. I am outside, trying to arrange the day's activities with the counselors and Pancha Tattva Prabhu. Right before breakfast is the best time to make scheduling announcements, when we're all assembled in one spot. So as organizers we have to figure out the day's schedule by that time. The plan for today is to have guided tours of the St. Louis temple after breakfast until 1 p.m., in shifts of ten people at a time. (This is the temple that Romapada Swami would like the youth to take on as a youth project.) After the tour, we'd like to have a discussion about "What would it take to get youth excited about getting more involved in ISKCON's missionary activities?" Lunch would be served at 2:30 p.m. in Govinda's restaurant, and then we would have the afternoon off until the evening program, when we would reconvene for evening arati in the temple room, and sharing of our memories and realizations of the festival tour so far.<br /><br />As soon as the morning lecture ends, we gather everyone in the restaurant for breakfast. While they're waiting, I announce the schedule for the day. We then serve a bountiful breakfast prasadam of kitchri, granola, milk, and fruit salad, provided courtesy of the temple cooks.<br /><br />We begin the guided tours of the temple building, temple services, and temple neighborhood. There's a heat wave going through St. Louis and the temperature outside is rising to a cozy 105 degrees fahrenheit. Some of the youth pass on the tour of the neighborhood and prefer to stay in the air-conditioned temple room to sing bhajans instead. Pancha Tattva Prabhu leads several tours, patiently taking groups of youth to the top of the three-story building, showing us room by room, the restaurant, kitchen, devotees cooking and preparing packed lunches. Pancha Tattva Prabhu explains that they cater vegetarian lunches to the employees of the AT&T building in downtown St. Louis. They have an email list of interested parties, and early in the morning send out a mass email with the menu for the day, along with a request to place lunch orders by 10:45 a.m. The devotee in charge of the catering checks the email orders, prepares the packed lunches, and drives them ten miles down the road to the AT&T building, where he parks the van during lunch hour and waits for the employees to pick up their prasadam meals. In addition to the catering, Govinda's restaurant is open from 11:00 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. weekdays, for lunch prasadam. They have a clientele of dedicated customers who have been eating lunch here for many years. Advertising is by word of mouth. Pancha Tattva Prabhu explains the endless possibilities for expansion if the youth were to take over this temple, with additional manpower, initiative and enthusiasm. The temple is two blocks from St. Louis University. There's a whole student population whose needs have not been served as of yet.<br /><br />At 1:00 p.m. we gather in the temple room for our group discussion. The topic: "If money was not an issue, what would it take to get you excited about contributing to the preaching mission of ISKCON? To get more actively involved... To perhaps spend a year or two serving at an ISKCON temple?"<br /><br />This topic was initiated by a request from His Holiness Romapada Swami, who, after his meetings with us about succession planning in Mexico, had shared the results with some of his godbrothers. Maharaja called me and said that several people he knows would like to fund programs that would encourage the youth to get more actively involved in ISKCON's missionary activities. He asked if I could ask the youth to identify what such projects, incentives, and programs would look like.<br /><br />"My cousin and I are the only youth at the Miami temple. We need more youth to move there..." Lalita contributes. "Is that what would get you more excited to participate in the missionary activities of ISKCON? If you had more youth living at your temple?" I respond. "Yes. It's easy when there are many of us."<br /><br />A hand goes up in the back of the room. "How about offering some incentives like the Mormons do? You know... you go to preach for two years and when you come back they pay for your college, set you up with a career, etc."<br /><br />"The Mormons have been around for over a hundred years," I respond. "They have a strong tithing program. If you don't give ten percent of your income to the Mormon church, you're not considered a member. The Mormons are one of the fastest growing religions in the world. They actively recruit people. More people means more tithing means more facilities for their youth. ... We can learn a lot from the Mormons. But our generation will have to pioneer many of these things. We will have to implement tithing programs for our ISKCON members. We will have to go out there and preach to spread the movement, to come anywhere near the numbers of members that the Mormons have. So the question is, what will it take to get you more inspired to actively go out and preach Krishna consciousness to others?"<br /><br />"I guess I don't feel qualified. I don't know enough about the philosophy to preach to others," says Sita. "We need more training programs that teach us how to present Krishna consciousness to the public, how to preach about Krishna," Priya adds. I share with the group a PBS documentary I had recently watched about the Mormon church, which showed a report from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, which is devoted to preparing young Mormons for their missionary work. They have classes in how to approach people on the street, how to interact with them, how to answer the basic questions people ask. "That's what we need, exactly," Priya concurs.<br /><br />"It's going to take lots of money. We don't have that kind of money in our movement," Govi argues. "We need to implement tithing. Everyone should give ten percent, at least. We should do that in Alachua."<br /><br />I couldn't agree more. I share my thoughts on Srila Rupa Goswami's advice that we should give 50% of our income to the temple. If not 50, at least we can give ten percent. Otherwise we cannot expect our movement to grow, offer educational facilities, colleges, universities, services for young people, old people, sick people, dying people... Our movement will not grow past small pockets of grass-roots efforts unless the members begin to take tithing seriously. And the beauty of tithing is that it directly benefits the community in which each member lives. You're giving to your local temple project, and reaping the immediate benefits.<br /><br />Back on track with our discussion. "What will it take to inspire you to live in a temple and preach Krishna consciousness for a year or two?"<br /><br />"If there was a college or university nearby, kind of like here at the St. Louis temple, and there were lots of other youth living here, and I could go to school during the day and do service in the morning and evening... I would move here," Lakshmi concedes. "Is that so? How do others feel about what Lakshmi just said?" I try to get a sense of the mood around the room. "Yes, it's all about association. If there are other youth, there's a place to stay, nice prasadam, and time set aside to do my homework if I'm going to college here, and we can have lots of bhajans... I would consider it," Ganga contributes. "Me too," says Nitai. "And me, count me in," Deva adds.<br /><br />Alright. It seems we have a winner. A practical step that doesn't require a large donor-base of tithing, nor does it require the building of a university. If the powers that be could fund a nice temple that has many youth living in it (peer association was an important factor), that is close to a university and offers facility for the youth to stay, study during the day, desks and computer equipment to do homework, and has nice prasadam, nice temple program with lots of bhajans... several of our test audience would consider moving there to study, finish college, and serve at a youth-run ISKCON temple in the meantime.<br /><br />"What about funding the bus tour?" Anapayini asks. "What about programs like this one that are struggling for money? We each have to pay $2000 to come on this tour, and we can barely make ends meet..." - "Yeah, this is the program that has inspired all of us to get more involved," Radhanatha adds. "They should help subsidize the bus tour fees so that more youth can afford to come on the tour." - "Buy us a new bus. The boys bus is not big enough... we have no room for luggage!" Amal insists.<br /><br />It's time to end the discussion and break for lunch. (Many more good points were made and I've only been able to capture the spirit of it above. Priya and Premanjana both have notes on this discussion.) Several hands are still raised and we vote to continue another five minutes to hear everyone's contributions.<br /><br />That afternoon, I accompany Pancha Tattva Prabhu, Premanjana, Priya and Haridas on a tour around the neighborhood, and around the city of Denver. (The latter are three youth who have decided to form a core team and try to seriously look at the possibility of taking on the ISKCON St. Louis temple as a youth preaching project.) Pancha Tattva Prabhu drives us to the famous St. Louis Arch, downtown. We pull up in front of the AT&T building where the devotees cater lunch. He shows us some of the more upscale, as well as some of the poorer neighborhoods. Some trendy locations with lots of restaurants, ideal for Harinama Sankirtana. He shows us a large park suitable for holding festivals such as Ratha-yatra. We discuss plans to rent an apartment building near the temple to house youth who would like to move here, serve at the temple, and go to university during the day. Pancha Tattva Prabhu shares his ideas of areas of potential the youth could tap into if they were inspired to get more involved. We talk about St. Louis University which is literally in the temple's back yard. (Walk out behind the temple and across the alley and you're at the entrance of the university.) We discuss ideas for reaching out to the student community, forming Bhakti-yoga and vegetarian cooking clubs, serving lunch to the students, etc.<br /><br />By the time we get back to the temple, it's evening prasadam time and the evening arati kirtana is about to begin. After arati, we try to get people rounded up for a discussion of festival tour memories, but there's a general sense that we're all too tired and not up for another discussion. So we relax until it's time to leave. By 9:30 p.m. we board the buses and get ready for another overnight journey. The night-time routine kicks in. Brushing teeth, using bathrooms, making bunk beds, lying down, lights out by 10:00 p.m., quiet time by 10:30. There's definitely an austeritiy involved in traveling in a large group of people. We have to take rest at the same time to be able to get up at the same time and not be too tired for the next day. It sometimes feels like boot camp or gurukula ashrama. It's one of those austerities that you surrender to and get used to after a while, in order to achieve the higher purpose of traveling on this festival tour together, having amazing experiences in places you would never have visited on your own.<br /><br />Vrindavana, the first driver-keeper-upper for the night, assumes position on the passenger seat at the front of the bus, next to the bus driver. Dravinaksha Prabhu usually drives the first shift. (He's our senior most bus driver and used to drive for Vishnujana Swami and the Radha-Damodara Traveling Sankirtana Party back in the 1970s.) We're now driving past the St. Louis Arch and across the Mississippi River into the dark night ahead. Nothing but headlights, white and yellow stripes on the highway, and the occasional road sign that reassures us we're heading in the right direction... towards Nashville and later Atlanta. I fall asleep shortly after I put my earplugs on.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 17, Friday, ISKCON Atlanta, Georgia.</span><br /><br />We arrive at the ISKCON Atlanta temple at 9:30 a.m., or thereabouts. Vedasara Prabhu, the gurukuli temple president, calls me on my cell phone to let me know he's shopping for groceries for our lunch, and will meet us shortly. The youth rush off to the bathrooms and showers. I proceed to empty the septic tanks on our two buses, recruiting a couple of helpers to lift them onto a toilet in the building. It takes three strong men to empty the noxious contents.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNwsX57orI/AAAAAAAAALs/soasobR5T5E/s1600-h/atlanta_deities.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNwsX57orI/AAAAAAAAALs/soasobR5T5E/s200/atlanta_deities.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108050310001828530" border="0" /></a>After showers, we hold a late morning program kirtana in the temple room, for the pleasure of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Madan-Mohan, Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, and Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra. It's a little 'deja vu'-ish. We started the festival tour at this temple at the end of June, and now we're back, a couple of days before the end of the tour. I take a look at the landscaped gardens, the new paint on the outside and inside of the building, the renovated basement which is ready to be converted into a restaurant... testament to the "Extreme Temple Makeover" our youth did here two years ago. (You can watch the video of the Atlanta temple makeover at Krishna.com.) I'm reminded of the story in Krishna Book where Garuda, Lord Vishnu's eagle carrier, sees a little mother bird trying to empty the ocean, because the ocean had swept away her eggs. Seeing the sincerity of the little bird, Garuda orders the ocean to return the eggs lest he himself would empty the ocean. Similarly, when our youth organized an "extreme temple make-over" here two years ago, fifty of them volunteered for three days to renovate this temple, scraped, caulked, painted, weeded, landscaped, and did the best they could with limited funds and resources. Seeing the sincere efforts of the youth, senior members of the congregation were touched and came forward to help out and do some of the heavy lifting, donating $30,000 to fix the leaking roof and renovate the drive-ways and structural damage to the building.<br /><br />Madhavendra, the Atlanta temple cook, is from Mexico. He bakes authentic Mexican enchiladas for breakfast, rolled corn tortillas filled with beans and topped with salsa, cheese, and fresh herbs. Delicious! Vedasara Prabhu surprises us with batches of hot, crunchy french fries. Scrumptious! Breakfast is a hit. I don't think I've ever seen the youth so enthusiastic about breakfast on this tour. It's also Ganga's 18th birthday. We sing Happy Birthday and give the man a group hug. Ganga has been playing the role of Lakshman and of Shukracharya in our performance. Coming of age on the bus tour... what can be more exciting?<br /><br />We hang out and relax for a couple of hours and leave by 1 p.m. The ice cream Vedasara bought for Ganga's birthday, which we were going to serve for lunch, is now being served on the buses. We divide 11 half-gallon containers of Breyers ice cream among the two buses. Just as the buses pull away from the curb, Amal radios the girls' bus over the walkie-talkie: "Yo! Can you trade us a Mint Chocolate Chip for a Caramel Praline Crunch?" Before he gets a reply, caught up in the urgency of the situation, he runs over to the other bus with a container of ice cream to negotiate the switch. Moments later he returns, out of breath and empty-handed. "What happened, Amal?" - "The girls took the Caramel Praline Crunch and said thank you very much and drove off!"<br /><br />Driving takes up the better portion of the rest of the day and on through the night, with people engaged in reading, chanting, playing games, and carrying on sundry conversations about life, relationships, careers, travel, and all the things that matter to people who are about to enter the responsible world of adulthood. We stop for dinner at a rest area near Alachua to pick up Jaya Radhe, Kana, Shanti, and Malati, who will join us for the last two days of the tour.<br /><br />We decide to take the Florida Turnpike toll road to Miami, which is 35 miles shorter than taking the free Interstate 75 along "Alligator Alley", across Everglades National Park. We calculate that it would cost us more in gasoline for both buses to drive 35 miles than to pay the tolls, and that the toll road will be a slightly better road. It begins to rain. Rain means moisture and for Garuda 2, the large yellow bus, transmission problems. The electronics refuse to cooperate. The "DO NOT SHIFT" light flashes stubbornly, letting us know that we're once again in a situation where we cannot shift gears, but just pray and cruise along the highway, hoping for very few stops until our destination. We soon realize that, had we known, we should have taken the free road. Toll roads come with toll booths every sixty miles or so, where you're expected to come to a full stop, wait in a queue of cars, and pay the $2 toll. Plagued by red flashing DO NOT SHIFT lights, Premanjana cruises into toll booth after toll booth, perfecting the "shut off the engine while sweet-talking the toll booth operator" technique. After waiting a few seconds, and restarting the engine, most of the time the transmission computer resets itself and lets us pull out of the toll booth and accellerate to highway speeds before the annoying DO NOT SHIFT blinking red light demon comes on again. It's the second-to-last day of the tour. I am praying we make it to Key Largo in one piece. Most of this trauma is spared the youth, who are sound asleep on their bunk beds behind the driver cabin.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 18, Saturday, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Key Largo, and ISKCON Miami, Florida.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNxOH57osI/AAAAAAAAAL0/HbNyPwaUgjY/s1600-h/john_pennecamp.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNxOH57osI/AAAAAAAAAL0/HbNyPwaUgjY/s200/john_pennecamp.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108050889822413506" border="0" /></a>The rain has stopped. The clouds are clearing, revealing a bright, blue sky as the sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean. We're on a gravel parking lot across the street from John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, in Key Largo, Florida. It's 7:30 a.m. and the park gates don't open until 8:30. As I chant my morning japa, I gaze at the fuel gauge. It's almost on empty. Rats! How did the last driver not notice? (We have three drivers take turns driving through the night.) And, we need to buy milk for breakfast. Dravinaksa Prabhu volunteers to go on a quest to ask the locals where the nearest diesel fuel gas station might be. He returns ten minutes later to report that someone with a thick Spanish accent indicated that she thought there might be diesel fuel at a Shell station ten miles south of here, along the Florida Keys highway one. Might be? What did she mean by might be? We can't afford to run out of fuel while looking for fuel... We ask another person, who confirms that there is diesel a few miles south. So we decide to risk it. We radio the other bus to let them know that if we don't return within a half hour, they should come looking for us. We begin to cruise down highway one at the mandatory 35 miles per hour speed limit here in the Keys. We expect to drive for a while. After driving for less than two minutes, we find a Shell station that sells diesel fuel. Jai! Haribol! And milk as well. Double Jai!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNyS357oxI/AAAAAAAAAMc/9SQ0nMvbB_Q/s1600-h/JKC_underwaterscene.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNyS357oxI/AAAAAAAAAMc/9SQ0nMvbB_Q/s200/JKC_underwaterscene.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108052070938419986" border="0" /></a>Shortly after 8:30 a.m. we drive into the entrance of the Coral Reef State Park. We pay the entrance fee for both buses. I read the information displayed on the park's literature. "Established in 1963, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park was the first undersea park created in the United States. The park, combined with the adjacent Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, encompasses 178 nautical square miles of coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove swamps. These areas were established to protect and preserve the only living coral reef in the continental United States." Exciting. Today we're taking the youth snorkeling in the waters above the coral reef.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNyC357owI/AAAAAAAAAMU/veX3bDLR3Xc/s1600-h/JKC_fish_yellow.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNyC357owI/AAAAAAAAAMU/veX3bDLR3Xc/s200/JKC_fish_yellow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108051796060513026" border="0" /></a>After completing paperwork, we head over to the outfitter's gear booth, where each youth is issued a pair of fins, a mask, and a snorkel. Then we head over to the boat that will take us out to the coral reef. The captain and his mate brief us on safety measures, life jackets, and basic snorkeling techniques. Soon we're on our way, crusing first through mangrove swamps, and then on the open ocean. I watch the gentle ocean breeze blow through my wife's hair. She has her eyes closed, enjoying the moment.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNx2n57ovI/AAAAAAAAAMM/nMPhzH726ik/s1600-h/reef_info5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNx2n57ovI/AAAAAAAAAMM/nMPhzH726ik/s200/reef_info5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108051585607115506" border="0" /></a><br />The kids are excited. We've never been snorkeling with the festival tour youth before. Not with fifty people on the summer tour anyhow. (On the Mexico winter tour 2005/06 we went snorkeling off Cozumel Island.) It's a special treat for these teenagers, who have just spent a long summer volunteering to set up and take down Ratha-yatra Festivals of India in ten cities, and who have performed the dance-drama DEVOTION at numerous auditoriums and theaters. We've traveled 16,000 miles across the USA, Canada, and Baja California (Mexico), and now it's time to relax and float amidst tropical fish, sponges and wondrous wild formations of coral on a reef five miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNxun57ouI/AAAAAAAAAME/ZkSEXmQI9tE/s1600-h/reef_info4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNxun57ouI/AAAAAAAAAME/ZkSEXmQI9tE/s200/reef_info4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108051448168162018" border="0" /></a>The instructor shows us how to wear our masks so as not to get water in them. Nervously, most of our first-time snorkelers don their mask, fins and snorkel and jump into the water above the reef. I see patches of sandy areas about ten feet beneath the water all around the boat. The coral reef is immediately in front of us. I press my snorkel mask against my face and jump. Hmmm... Not so bad. The water is pleasantly warm, not as cold as I had anticipated. The wind is mild, the waves are not too choppy. I swim away from the boat, face down in the water, snorkel in the air, the reef in sight.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNxmH57otI/AAAAAAAAAL8/aVaUq6wmDz0/s1600-h/reef_info3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuNxmH57otI/AAAAAAAAAL8/aVaUq6wmDz0/s200/reef_info3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108051302139273938" border="0" /></a>I float across large protrusions of coral that look like the inside of a brain. Brain coral. Sea fans, sponges, and over there... lots of little multi-colored fish. Some big ones, I think they're called parrot fish. Someone shouts from behind and I turn around... straight into a school of fist-sized midnight blue fish with bright spots that look like stars in the night sky. They are all around me. Cool! I paddle my fins and swim to the outer edge of the reef. I see Dories (from the film, Finding Nemo). I see a pencil fish that looks like a long stick. I stare out into the darkness of the abyss beyond the reef, hoping to see nothing. That's right, nothing. And I'm glad. Sometimes sharks patrol the outer edges of the reef, looking for an easy meal. No sharks today. No barracudas either. Some of the youth swim to the far edge of the reef, where there's a sunken statue of Jesus. I end up in a shallow part of the reef and as the waves bob up and down, I see the blankets of coral below me getting ever closer to my arms and legs. I see a triangular shaped cream colored fish with brown spots all over... he creeps me out. I move along. I can't help but feel like I'm swimming in a tropical aquarium. This is what life as a fish must be like. There's a whole other universe down here in the coral reef that is so unlike our experiences on land.<br /><br />After about an hour in the water, the captain of our boat blows his whistle to let us know it's time to come back in. I swim over to the boat and climb up the ladder, to find that most of the youth are already relaxing on deck... some sea-sick, some exhausted, some filled with stories about what they saw underwater. Since this is my third time snorkeling, I'm feeling fine. It tends to get better the more practice you have at it, I guess. Two of our senior youth counselors are missing. Krishna Priya and Sarasvati. The captain is getting worried. He and his mate grab binoculars and start searching the waters. The youth join them in scanning the horizon. Minutes pass. The anxiety builds. Did we lose them? Were they rescued by another boat? (There are several snorkeling outfitters anchored here.) ... There! At two 'o clock position, arms flailing in the waters about 500 feet from the boat... two lonesome swimmers bobbing in the waves realize they've drifted far away and that it's time to head back. They are slowly getting closer to our boat. "We couldn't hear the whistle," KP explains. "You were too far out, it's dangerous out there," the captain scolds.<br /><br />Back on land, showered and changed into dry clothes, we serve a hearty lunch prasadam of open-face sandwiches. Home-baked slices of organic bread with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and various condiments. And lemonade. Lots of lemonade. A few of us stop by the visitor's center aquarium to look up the names of the fish we saw out on the reef. Blue tang, parrotfish, angelfish, damselfish, wrasses, snappers, grunts... we get to re-visit them inside the aquarium's fish tanks.<br /><br />We have a performance scheduled at the ISKCON Miami temple this evening. It's time to leave.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ISKCON Miami Temple</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuN0rH57ozI/AAAAAAAAAMs/boYhYjEfTrk/s1600-h/miami_deities.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuN0rH57ozI/AAAAAAAAAMs/boYhYjEfTrk/s200/miami_deities.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108054686573503282" border="0" /></a>Two hours later, at around 4:30 p.m., we arrive at the Miami temple. The property is located in the southern Miami neighborhood of Coconut Grove, five blocks from the ocean. The presiding deities are Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Braja-Bihari, Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, and Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra. There's a large temple building, with nicely landscaped grounds, flower gardens, palm trees, and a Govinda's restaurant. We park the buses in the temple parking lot and are greeted by the local devotees who have arranged this Saturday evening program. They've invited their entire congregation, guests, and devotees. Miami was originally scheduled to be a theater program, but for reasons beyond our control, funding for the theater rental and promotions fell through at the last minute and plans changed.<br /><br />While the dancers and actors get ready, a group of us prepare the temple room for the performance. We set aside a stage area in front of the altar, and set up cushions, benches and chairs for the audience. Radhanatha sets up the spotlight. Haridas and Nitai replace batteries in the wireless microphones and hook up the sound system. Saraswati and Vrindavan position the props. Soon, about 150 people fill the temple room.<br /><br />DEVOTION begins after an enthusiastic evening arati kirtana. Anapayini and her sister Kumari sing the live vocals for the dance scenes, accompanied by our musicians. (We use live music throughout.) The dancers enthrall the audience. Local Miami youth Lalita and Narayani receive enthusiastic applause after their performances. (Lalita plays Lakshmi in scene three, and Narayani plays Sita in scene six.) The altar curtains remain closed for most of the dance-drama, providing the backdrop for the stage. Then, during eight 'o clock arati, they open for the last scene. We perform the mridanga drum presentation and final dialog and kirtana with Lord Chaitanya, Lord Nityananda and the sankirtana party in front of Their Lordships.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuN1MX57o2I/AAAAAAAAANE/CzhvFIzL32Y/s1600-h/devotion_miami3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuN1MX57o2I/AAAAAAAAANE/CzhvFIzL32Y/s400/devotion_miami3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108055257804153698" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuN1E357o1I/AAAAAAAAAM8/KQGPZe3HVVA/s1600-h/devotion_miami2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuN1E357o1I/AAAAAAAAAM8/KQGPZe3HVVA/s400/devotion_miami2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108055128955134802" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuN07357o0I/AAAAAAAAAM0/Ld2iumar2QQ/s1600-h/devotion_miami1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuN07357o0I/AAAAAAAAAM0/Ld2iumar2QQ/s400/devotion_miami1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108054974336312130" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After the show, guests and performers gather in the restaurant area. The Miami devotees serve us a delicious prasadam feast. Lalita's mother has prepared samosas for us. I help serve the juice, thanking people for coming. One well-dressed gentleman responds: "No, thank YOU for coming. This is so wonderful. I'm very impressed."<br /><br />We're scouting for locations to film scenes from our performance for the DVD. We decide to film two of the scenes here, once the crowd clears and things quiet down. 8:30 turns to 9:30 turns to 10:30... and finally most of the guests have gone home. So by 10:30 p.m. we begin to film the Appearance of Lord Jagannatha scene, the Bali and Vamana scene, as well as the part where Hanuman finds Sita in the Ashoka grove of Ravana's palace. We leave Miami by 1:30 in the morning, tired, but with a sense of accomplishment. We're on the home stretch now. It's like all of us know it's only a matter of hours before we're home.<br /><br />The youth take their time to say goodbye to Lalita and Narayani, who live here and are getting off the tour.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 19, Sunday, ISKCON Alachua, Florida.</span><br /><br />"Ladies and gentlemen, let us be the first to welcome you to Alachua, Florida. We thank you for flying ISKCON Garuda airlines..." is the announcement I make over the megaphone this Sunday morning at 9:15 a.m., as the buses roll into the New Raman Reti temple parking lot. Last night we drove seven hours from Miami to Alachua, and are here earlier than expected. Two months and many adventures later, from mountains to prairies to oceans to volcanoes to coral reefs, the buses have made it back to Alachua safe and sound.<br /><br />People are borrowing each other's cell (mobile) phones. "Mom, we're at the temple. Come pick me up!" - "Can I get a ride home with you?" some friends ask. Participants visiting from overseas and out of town have figured out friends they'll be staying with. We agree to meet again for the Sunday Feast performance this evening.<br /><br />Gradually, the parents show up. There's happy hugs all around. Gear is hauled out of the bus, piled up outside. People are sorting through their belongings. Shoes, bead bags, suchi kits, lost-and-found... Soon everyone's off to their respective homes.<br /><br />The buses are empty, quiet, and filled with unclaimed sundries. After a good cleaning, here they will rest until the next Krishna Culture Festival Tour. (There will be a Mexico tour this winter. Would you like to come? Contact us: bustour2007@krishna.com)<br /><br />Tonight we meet again for a final performance of DEVOTION for 250+ guests, family and friends at the New Raman Reti, Alachua temple. The show goes over well. The parents give their kids a standing ovation. Even those devotees not directly related to these youth feel they are their children. They've watched them grow up in this community. People are emotional. Tears are flowing. The flowers of Alachua have returned home, after a long summer of volunteering to broadcast the glories of Sri Krishna all over North America.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 20, Monday, Ichetucknee Springs State Park, and Goodbye Party, Alachua, Florida.</span><br /><br />We spend the day floating with tubes ("tubing") down the crystal clear, spring-fed Ichetucknee River. In the evening, we gather for a final festival tour goodbye party at Gundica's house, where we share memories of the tour, watch some of the video footage that was filmed, and say our final goodbyes. The tour is over. Our goal was to inspire, engage, train and empower youth in Krishna consciousness. Did we achieve our goal? I think so. Much of the result remains to be seen. It takes time for experiences like this summer festival tour to really sink in. You never know where a young person will end up in five, ten, fifteen years from now, based on memories, realizations, friendships and experiences they've had on this tour.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuN0UX57oyI/AAAAAAAAAMk/mNVSZC_UkrI/s1600-h/bustourgroup.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RuN0UX57oyI/AAAAAAAAAMk/mNVSZC_UkrI/s400/bustourgroup.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108054295731479330" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />------------------------<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Post-mortem:</span><br /><br />We've since met with the bus tour counselors and itemized what went well, what didn't go so well, and suggestions for improvements for next year.<br /><br />After meeting with our accountant, we came up with the following.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CURRENT NEEDS:</span><br /><br />$5,500 for repairing Garuda 2, the big yellow bus (she has cracks in the wheel well that hold the rear wheel assembly to the chassis of the bus, as well as the tag axle steering mechanism.)<br /><br />$???? for repairing the electrical problem with Garuda 2's transmission. (Anyone want to donate a new transmission or new bus?)<br /><br />$4,060 for wireless microphones and stage spot light already purchased with borrowed money that needs to be repaid. (Essential tour gear needed for our stage performances.)<br /><br />$11,000 in sponsorship monies for four (4) youth and two (2) swamis and their two (2) assistants who were essential to make the festival tour a success but could not afford to pay the per-person cost to cover basic tour expenses. I am still looking for sponsors for the above, retroactively at this point. (Thank you to Mothers Kanti and Varshana for sponsoring one of our youth.) I will gladly send you a list of the people who need sponsors if you are interested.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VOLUNTEER HELP NEEDED:</span><br /><br />We will need help with editing the 30+ hours of video that we filmed during the tour.<br /><br />In a couple of weeks, planning and promotions for the Mexico winter tour will start. We need help with that.<br /><br />Already, we're scheduling the performance dates for next summer's Krishna Culture Festival Tour. We need people who would like to be part of a team to help promote the tour and help us book venues across North America.<br /><br />Organize bake sales at your temple to help fundraise to sponsor a youth from your community to attend the next tour.<br /><br />Encourage people you know to contribue financially to make this festival tour possible. Every dollar counts.<br /><br />Contact us at:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">bustour2007@krishna.com</span><br /><br />Your servant,<br />Manu dasaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164690330723510339.post-41211487290840614392007-08-26T09:04:00.000-07:002007-08-28T23:07:09.093-07:00Los Angeles to Vancouver<span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/88027243@N00/sets/72157601730625669/">Over 600 photos of the festival tour are now on Flickr.com. Click on this link to go there...</a><br /><br /><br />August 4, Saturday, Los Angeles. Gurukula Reunion and Harinama in Santa Monica.</span><br /><br />The annual Gurukula Reunion at Culver City Park starts at 11:00 a.m. "It's not really a reunion for me," says Jahnavi. "I don't know anyone here. It's more like a gathering of youth who have grown up around the Hare Krishna movement." Gradually more and more people trickle into the park and begin to cluster around their friends. A frisbee takes flight over here. A football is tossed over there. I search for gurukulis from my generation. There's Chaits, Bahu, Sri Shyam, Dayanidhi, Shivajvara, Ramachandra, Kirtan Rasa, Giri, Vibhu... The "reunion" seems to attract mostly younger people these days. Several teenage skateboarders from Watseka Avenue and their siblings. I feel like a dying breed. At 35, I'm twice as old as the average attendee, old enough to be their father.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtGzLX57oUI/AAAAAAAAAI0/2C3vc_qHImQ/s1600-h/web_la_reunion.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtGzLX57oUI/AAAAAAAAAI0/2C3vc_qHImQ/s400/web_la_reunion.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103056860764414274" border="0" /></a><br />I strike up a conversation with Dayanidhi, whom I haven't seen in years. He is living with his wife and two children in Badger, California, growing a garden, living in nature, the simple life. Chaits is researching the history of the L.A. reunions. We spend a few minutes remembering those involved in organizing the early reunions. Bahu says he wants to revive AS IT IS magazine. I give him my thumbs up and share my interest in recording audio and video interviews with the older generation of gurukulis, to tell their stories, and to rekindle communication.<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/walker.cr/LAGurukuliReunionRathaYatra2007">Here are some photos taken by Chaits. Click on this link to view them.</a><br /><br />The reunion feast arrives, late, but worth the wait. Krsna Gauranga Prabhu has prepared lasagna, salad, nectar drink and mango cheese cake. We reminisce that Krsna Gauranga has been cooking the reunion feasts ever since we can remember. After everyone has had their fill, there's leftover cheesecake. I grab a tray and walk around the park, serving extra cheesecake to anyone who will eat it. "Have seconds! Have thirds! A cheesecake eating competition!"<br /><br />By 4:40 p.m. it's time to head back to the temple to get ready for <span style="font-style: italic;">harinama</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica. Harinama Sankirtana. </span><br /><br />Harinama literally means the holy name of Hari, or Krishna. Sankirtana means to glorify or chant with lots of people in congregation. What we have come to refer to as "<span style="font-style: italic;">harinama sankirtana</span>", or <span style="font-style: italic;">harinama</span> for short, means going out in public and chanting the holy names of Krishna loudly, in procession, accompanied by <span style="font-style: italic;">mridanga</span> drums, <span style="font-style: italic;">kartal</span> cymbals, and enthusiastic dancing. This has been a part of our Krishna culture going back to the time of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who held <span style="font-style: italic;">harinama sankirtana</span> with thousands of people in the streets of West Bengal, India, 500 years ago.<br /><br />3rd Street Promenade is a pedestrian shopping street in Santa Monica, a trendy ocean-front suburb of Los Angeles. Brand name stores line the streets here, from fashion to jewelry to cosmetics to Apple computers. Once a year, Hare Krishna devotees engulf this place in an ecstatic wave of Krishna <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span>, joyfully chanting the holy names of Krishna, blissfully dancing in the streets. Some 200 to 300 devotees who have come for the Ratha-yatra festival participate. And the locals have come to expect it.<br /><br />I follow behind the <span style="font-style: italic;">harinama</span> party with a video camera, filming audience reactions. I study the faces of the onlookers, of those curiously gazing at the devotees chanting and dancing in apparent abandon. I ask a couple of gentlemen, "What do you think of all of this?" They respond, "It's beautiful. Just beautiful. Thank you so much for coming out here."<br /><br />This was not the reply I had expected. I had expected people to be annoyed with us. For three hours I continue to follow the <span style="font-style: italic;">harinama</span> party, filming audience reactions. Some people stay for half an hour at a time, watching us, soaking in the exotic visuals and music. I see smiles on faces. Some shake their head from side to side, as if to notion, "I don't understand... what is this?" But they can't stop looking. A Korean father trails behind us, his young son on his shoulders. They follow the <span style="font-style: italic;">harinama</span> party intently, as if to figure out its meaning.<br /><br />The bus tour girls are now dancing in choreographed unison at the front of the procession. Jahnavi from England is leading the Maha-mantra <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span>. We've taken over the center of the shopping street. A curious couple stops to look. The man is watching our girls dance, saris swirling. I note some discomfort in the facial expression of his girlfriend. Soon she begins to tug at her man, urging him to move along.<br /><br />It's now half past nine in the evening. The pedestrian zone is illuminated by multicolored signs above shop windows. Most of the shops are closed but people are still gathered in the streets, watching the <span style="font-style: italic;">harinama</span> commotion. Acyuta from New York begins to lead. Normally you'd be completely exhausted by now. Instead, the youth and older devotees swell up with a new burst of enthusiasm and dance like they haven't danced before, sing like they haven't sung before, and the <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span> soars to another level of transcendence. You finally abandon all thought of material comfort--you're hot, thirsty, sweating. You stop worrying about what other people think of you--your <span style="font-style: italic;">tilak</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">kajal</span> is running all over your face, your <span style="font-style: italic;">dhoti</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">sari</span> are no longer neatly pleated. You just close your eyes and get caught up in the waves of <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span>... Hare Krishna... Hare Krishna... Krishna Krishna... Hare Hare... Hare Rama... Hare Rama... Rama Rama... Hare Hare! There's nothing but you and the holy names in the three worlds. Everything else loses significance.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 5, Sunday, Los Angeles Ratha-yatra Festival of Chariots.</span><br /><br />Early this morning a team including Premanjana, Haridas, Priya, Krsnapriya, Datta, and Jaya Radhe meet with senior North American leaders about the feasibility of the youth taking over ISKCON St. Louis as a youth temple project. The youth express concern about whether or not they will be given actual responsibility to manage. The senior devotees express concern about the spiritual strength of the youth. Will they be able to maintain Srila Prabhupada's spiritual standards? Both sides are hopeful and positively enthused by the end of the meeting.<br /><br />By mid morning, Lord Jagannatha, Lady Subhadra, and Lord Baladeva are taken via luxury limousines to the Ratha-yatra parade start, where their four-story tall chariots await them. Jagannatha Ratha-yatra, or the Lord of the Universe's Chariot Festival, is, according to our tradition, the world's oldest continuously observed festival. It has been held annually in the holy city of Puri on the eastern coast of India for the past 5000 years. Puranic histories ascribe the beginning of this festival to the time of King Indradyumna, who purportedly lived in a previous age, tens of thousands of years ago. He desired to see the Lord face to face, which led to the manifestation of the Lord in the deity forms of Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra. During the Ratha-yatra chariot festival, the Lord of the Universe comes out of the temple to bestow His blessings upon the people of the world. On the request of our founder Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, members of the Hare Krishna movement have been holding Lord Jagannatha's Ratha-yatra festival in major cities around the world for the past 40 years. Los Angeles Ratha-yatra is one of the largest, and has been observed annually in this city for 32 years.<br /><br />The parade begins to move. The Lord's three large chariots are being pulled with long yellow ropes by hundreds of participants along Main Street in downtown Santa Monica. Three <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span> parties glorify the Lord's holy names, one in front of each chariot. The festival tour youth lead one of the <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtanas</span>. The parade passes the bustling farmer's market. We turn right, then left, onto Ocean Front Walk. We're now entering the city of Venice, and Lord Jagannatha is strolling along Venice Beach. This is tourist mecca. Hundreds of curious visitors walk past the chariot procession and <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span> parties. We pass roadside vendors selling incense, temporary tattoos, air-brushed t-shirts, sunglasses... A handful of fundamentalist Christian preachers have come out to protest in front of our procession. They yell derogatory statements over their megaphones. They inform us that we're all going to hell. They march in front of our parade, as if they're a part of it, with their banners raised high proclaiming Jesus as the only way. I wish they would utilize their energies to hold similar processions glorifying the Lord's holy names, rather than fight over designations.<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">Krishna surya sama,</span>" the Sanskrit saying goes. Krishna is like the sun. As the sun is known by many names around the world, similarly, God is known by many names. God is one. He cannot be two. He has many names according to time, place, culture. In our millennia-old tradition, God, the Creator, the Lord of Lords, is known as Krishna, or Vishnu (another name for Krishna.) By meditating on Him and His names we come to realize that we are all children of the same Father, and thus develop goodwill and peace towards our brothers and sisters of different creed and color.<br /><br />Eventually, the Ratha-yatra procession reaches the festival site on Venice Beach. Our tent village is filled with people from all walks of life. Old people, young people, Asian, Caucasian, African American, Latino... a melting pot of designations absorbed in the dazzling cultural display that is Lord Jagannatha's Ratha-yatra Festival. Coming to think of it, Lord Jagannatha is black, His brother Baladeva is white, and Their sister Subhadra is yellow. If that isn't a sign to unify as brothers and sisters regardless of our external designations and skin color, I don't know what is.<br /><br />Some of our youth take turns serving the free feast. Hibiscus iced tea, pasta salad, peanut butter sweets, potato fritters, peanuts and raisins. More than 10,000 plates of free vegetarian food will be distributed to festival goers today.<br /><br />The "Changing Bodies" diorama exhibit about reincarnation is popular as ever. Absorbed, people sit on the grass in front of the main stage where Viji Prakash and her dance academy are performing intricately choreographed Bharata-natyam dances. The music stage is well attended. Nirantara and Titiksava Karunika Prabhus entertain with devotional rock music.<br /><br />At 3:15 p.m. our festival tour youth go on stage to perform DEVOTION. I notice the audience has a hard time sitting attentively in the hot sun. I wish there was a way to provide shade for them. Madhuha Prabhu and I discuss options for a large canopy or parachute hanging over the area in front of the main stage to throw some shade... Maybe next year, if we get a donation for this.<br /><br />After our performance, Karnamrita leads a <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span> that evolves from blissful to nectarean to ecstatic, as more and more devotees join her, inspiring the audience to get up and dance. Soon the entire crowd of people in front of the main stage is dancing. People are plucking flowers off Lord Jagannatha's chariot, tearing them apart and throwing petals over each other's heads.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtGzcH57oVI/AAAAAAAAAI8/zIqs-cNgazI/s1600-h/web_la_rath_kirtan.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtGzcH57oVI/AAAAAAAAAI8/zIqs-cNgazI/s400/web_la_rath_kirtan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103057148527223122" border="0" /></a><br />Sunset signals time for take-down. For us festival tour youth this means changing into work pants and getting ready to take down the tents, exhibits, and stages. We begin by handing out trash bags and encouraging people to pick up the flower petals that have been strewn all over the lawn in front of the chariots and main stage. Teams begin untying the ropes that secure the tents to concrete blocks. Others carry exhibit panels back to the festival trailer. Soon the tents are empty and ready to be disassembled. It takes four people to carry the smaller ten-foot by ten-foot tents. One person per pole. We lift the tent and start walking towards the trailer where all the festival gear is stored. There, we pull out the poles that serve as legs for the tent, lower the canopy to the ground, unstrap it, fold it and roll it up, and then take apart the poles that form the frame that supports the canopy. The poles are stored in color-coded slots in the trailer. Just as it is described in the scriptures that, at the end of the cosmic cycle all universes enter into the body of Maha-vishnu, so at the end of the festival, all tents, exhibits, and stage pieces disappear into the Festival of India trailer.<br /><br />It's dark. The wind is blowing chilly spells from the ocean. I put on an extra sweatshirt, flip the hoodie over my head and secure it with a scarf. Using flashlights we search the festival site for remaining Festival of India gear. Once all of our stuff is put away, it's time to start helping the L.A. crew put away their festival gear. It's basically like helping with two take-downs in a row. Ratnabhusana Prabhu has his own set of tents, exhibits, poles, canopies, and stage pieces which we don't want to mix up with our gear. So we take down Madhuha Prabhu's Festival of India equipment first, and Ratnabhusana Prabhu's L.A. festival gear second. After a five-hour marathon, we're finally done. Refreshments await. Leftovers from the various food booths. Strawberry milkshake. Mango milkshake. Curd steaks in tomato sauce. Oatmeal and raisin cookies. Nothing like a midnight snack after a long festival day and extra long take-down. We are just hallucinating about warm Caribbean beaches, palm trees, pinacoladas, when the call comes to use the bathrooms, brush our teeth, and head to bed. The buses will be leaving shortly. Time to get back on the road again. If Jack Kerouac reincarnated as a Hare Krishna, he's probably on the festival bus tour right now.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 6, Monday, Kings Canyon Sequoia National Park. </span><br /><br />His Holiness Radhanatha Swami accompanies us to Kings Canyon this morning. He's riding in the back of the men's bus, on the deck area. About 15 of our young men are gathered around him, on all sides. Maharaja is leading Guruvastakam prayers. The deck is a raised platform at the back of the bus, surrounded on three sides by bunk beds. Some are lying down on bunk beds and others are sitting on the deck... wherever they can fit into this tight space. Radhanatha Swami recalls the time he lived in a cave in the Himalayas, before he joined the Hare Krishna movement. He says this situation reminds him of that time. A modern cave on wheels. He tells stories of the sages he met, and how later, some years ago, he went back to find those same ascetics, to see what had happened to them. He tells the story of one particular yogi, Tatwalla Baba, who wore only burlap loin cloth and would sit in meditation for twenty hours at a time. He was his cave mate.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtGzzX57oWI/AAAAAAAAAJE/tWsGKLHiW4g/s1600-h/web_sequoia1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtGzzX57oWI/AAAAAAAAAJE/tWsGKLHiW4g/s200/web_sequoia1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103057547959181666" border="0" /></a>We arrive at Kings Canyon Sequioa National Park late morning. I notice a signpost for Grant Grove, an area of giant sequioa trees, and ask the bus driver to pull over. Radhanatha Swami mentions that he has never been to this part of the country before, never seen such large trees. We get off the bus and stroll down the circular path that leads to some of the named and more famous trees. The Tennesee Tree. The Robert E. Lee Tree. The General Grant Tree, apparently the third largest tree in the world by volume. Maharaja stares incredulously at these giant trees that have stood here for 2000-plus years. He asks us to consider what these trees would say to us if they could speak. What would their message be, having witnessed hundreds of generations come and go, entire civilizations rise and fall? Maharaja reminds us that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu requested us to be more tolerant than a tree. He asks us to consider the kind of tolerance the Lord is speaking about. These giant sequoia trees have withstood long cold winters, rain storms, forest fires, strong winds, people and animals picking away at their limbs and bark... For hundreds, even thousands of years. How tolerant the Lord wants us to be.<br /><br />Breakfast calls. We board our bus and catch up with the ladies' bus that has already arrived at our Dorst Creek group campsite. Breakfast is granola, milk and fruit. One of our older youth and bus tour counselors, Dattatreya Prabhu's grandfather passed away yesterday. Datta found out this morning and has been quite sober and teary eyed. Radhanatha Swami tries to console him and suggests that we hold a <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span> in honor of Dattatreya's grandfather. We spread out a large green tarp under a canopy of red pine trees and place the bus tour Gaura Nitai deities on a table at one end. Maharaja begins the kirtana. Gradually the tarp fills with youth. Observing the deities, we respond to the Maha-mantra <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG0BX57oYI/AAAAAAAAAJU/N0gJm-nl_jo/s1600-h/web_sequoia3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG0BX57oYI/AAAAAAAAAJU/N0gJm-nl_jo/s400/web_sequoia3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103057788477350274" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Later, we take the ladies to Sherman Grove, another patch of giant trees. Maharaja and I accompany them. We approach the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world by volume, touted as "the largest living thing." <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtGz6357oXI/AAAAAAAAAJM/3egDWjWQzKc/s1600-h/web_sequoia2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtGz6357oXI/AAAAAAAAAJM/3egDWjWQzKc/s200/web_sequoia2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103057676808200562" border="0" /></a>Again Maharaja pauses and asks the ladies to ponder the message this tree would impart to us, could he speak. He asks the ladies to share their thoughts on what this tree might tell us. "Stop fighting with one another," says one girl. "Go back to Godhead," says another. "Don't become a tree like me," Varshana says jokingly. We take group photos against the trunk of the world's largest tree, who is estimated to be between 2300 - 2700 years old. On the way out of the grove we see twin sequoia trees, merged at their base. "They must have liked each other in a previous life," someone whispers. "I wonder what kind of karma they've had to spend thousands of years together as trees," another adds.<br /><br />Radhanatha Swami has an appointment in San Diego and Balarama Chandra Prabhu is here to give him a ride. Sadly, we part. It is always a blessing to have the association of <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhus</span> on the bus tour. To my surprise, Radhanatha Swami gets behind the wheel of the SUV, smiles and waves goodbye as he drives off. Apparently he doesn't often get to drive--people are always chauffeuring him--so he enjoys this opportunity away from formalities where he can drive a car through the rugged countryside of Kings Canyon Sequoia National Park.<br /><br />Satvata Prabhu, our cook, has prepared a dinner of rice and beans. We spend the evening around the campfire, holding evening <span style="font-style: italic;">arati</span> for the Gaura Nitai deities, telling stories, and playing Krishna conscious charades.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 7, Tuesday, Kings Canyon Sequoia National Park. </span><br /><br />Amal slept next to the campfire last night. He points to where flying embers hit and burnt holes into his sleeping bag. One by one, people wake up and gather around the fire. We've thrown more wood on it early this morning to ward off the chill that happens just as the sun rises and evaporates the dew, cooling the surface of the earth. Some of us get out our bead bags and begin our japa for the day.<br /><br />I notice leftover beans and rice in the pots from yesterday. I glance at the cozy campfire and wonder if we didn't bring with us an iron skillet and some butter. Jaya Radhe, my wife, rummages through the kitchen at the back of the bus, and a skillet manifests. And it so happens there's some butter left in one of the coolers. With choice ingredients in hand, I simmer butter, beans and rice in a skillet over the glowing embers. "Hot campfire baked beans and rice, anyone?"<br /><br />"Mmmmh!," the first of the taste testers mumbles. Govi and Jaggi agree. "Mmmh! - Mmmmh!" they echo. Soon, the entire stash of leftover beans and rice has been devoured by the early risers. "Anyone ready for this morning's actual breakfast?" Apparently Jaya Radhe and Mohini have made pancakes in the kitchen at the back of the bus. Aunt Jemima's table syrup and all.<br /><br />Today's activity is supposed to be a hike to Mist Falls, at the bottom of Kings Canyon. I start the yellow bus (Garuda 2) and am surprised when, a minute later, the engine dies on me. I take a look... there's no fuel in the fuel filter. The fuel gauge reads the tank is just under half full. The bus is parked at an angle. Maybe the gauge is jammed or broken? I try again... no fuel. The bus won't start.<br /><br />"We have to try and siphon some diesel fuel out of the tank and fill the fuel filter, so the engine will start," I suggest to the gathering of blank stares. Right. Siphon. Yup. People disperse. Not me. Not me either. Nobody wants to get diesel fuel in their mouth. And besides, what hose are we going to sacrifice for this adventure? The only hose we have? The one used to fill water into the bus water tanks? Yup.<br /><br />I cut the hose and stuff it deep into fuel tank. I suck on the open end but get diesel fumes in my head and have second thoughts. I pause. I look around. Lots of incredulous stares from the peanut gallery. Then a flash of genius hits me. I dip the hose deep into the fuel tank, stick my index finger into the open end of the hose to plug it, and pull it out halfway and try to drain the fuel, to create a siphon. It works! Only one little problem. There doesn't seem to be much fuel in the tank. We are getting droplets and dribbles. Not the gallon of fuel I had hoped for to refill the fuel filter. Maybe the hose is too short. I cut another length of hose, longer this time. Again I feed one end of the hose deep into the fuel tank and apply the stuff-your-finger-in-open-end-of-hose siphon technique. Droplets. Dirty diesel fuel. Maybe the tank is really empty. The fuel gauge must be broken. How else would the fuel filter have run completely dry?<br /><br />Onto plan B. Forget the drive to Mist Falls. Ain't happening. We look at the Kings Canyon Sequoia National Park map to find an alternative day-trip location. There seems to be a stream with swimming holes a few miles south of our campsite. We could take the boys' school bus and shuttle people there in two trips. Or squeeze all 50 of us into that smaller bus for a short 20-minute drive to this alternate location. Sounds like a plan.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG0z357obI/AAAAAAAAAJs/InzH5W1Tlfw/s1600-h/web_sequoia6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG0z357obI/AAAAAAAAAJs/InzH5W1Tlfw/s400/web_sequoia6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103058656060744114" border="0" /></a><br />We all mount the 35-foot short boys' school bus, which is outfitted with permanent bunk beds and doesn't comfortably fit more than 20 people. "Girls on the deck in the back, boys on the bunk beds in the middle and front of the bus!" People squeeze in as best they can. We drive to the creek, let everyone off, and then turn the bus around and drive about 30 miles to the only gas station that sells diesel fuel, just outside the park. It's $3.59 per gallon. I don't care. We're filling buckets, coolers, empty 5-gallon water containers, anything we can get our hands on, with diesel fuel to bring back to the big yellow bus stranded at our campsite.<br /><br />Back at the site, Sacinandana, Dravinaksa and I have rigged a funnel into a hose into the fuel tank, and are transferring half-buckets at a time from coolers into the funnel, straining the diesel fuel as we go. It's a slow process. The sun is high in the sky by now, burning down on us. Beads of sweat run down my forehead. We're covered in fuel. We laugh at our predicament, trying to keep our sanity. The diesel fuel is bright neon yellow. We joke about it being Gatorade. "Anyone thirsty?" Dravinaksa sets aside a few gallons to refill the fuel filter at the back of the engine. We're now 4 hours into this project of trying to resuscitate the big yellow bus. Drav doesn't have the right tools he needs to undo the fuel filter. He tries with several wrenches. Getting it off is one thing. Getting it back on is another. Somehow or other, by Krishna's mercy, 5 hours later, in the mid-afternoon heat, we are ready to try to start that bus again.<br /><br />I switch on the main power switches inside the battery compartment. I turn the red battery conditioning switches. I walk to the front of the bus and hit the ignition switch. A rumble. The whining of belts and the engine turning over. Then silence. The engine is dry and not burning fuel. We're hesitant to play this game too often, because the batteries can get drained quickly and we're miles away from civilization. Dravinaksa is confident. He says the fuel filter is looking good. He can see the fuel level through it's transparent looking glass, and it's only a matter of time before the engine will suck it up and start. I press the ignition switch again.... the engine turns over and runs dry for about a minute. I can hear it slowing down as the battery drains and drains. There's air in the fuel lines, for sure, that has to be eliminated. I hear a stutter. And another. I pray at this point that the battery will last to keep cranking the engine until the fuel arrives. Another stutter. Now two in a row. Sounds promising. There! A cloud of black smoke from the exhaust! More frequent stutters. More smoke. At last... the engine turns over on its own. "Jaya! -- Haribol!" Sacinandana exclaims, visibly exhausted but happy to see the end result... Dravinaksa smiles. We look at each other contently and begin to clean up the mess. With the engine running on high idle in the background, we wipe diesel fuel off our arms using paper towels, carry the funnel, coolers and buckets over to the campsite water spigot, douse them with laundry soap and scrub away.<br /><br />We drive the big yellow bus to the gas station, fill the tank to the top with diesel fuel, and pick up the youth by 5:15 p.m. at the swimming hole. We're running 15 minutes late (we told them to be ready for us at 5:00). One of the boys complains that he had to wait for 15 minutes. I swallow a humble pill and choose not to react. I smile and wave him in. "All aboard!"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG0t357oaI/AAAAAAAAAJk/K8CrsViTApo/s1600-h/web_sequoia5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG0t357oaI/AAAAAAAAAJk/K8CrsViTApo/s200/web_sequoia5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103058552981528994" border="0" /></a>That evening the day's stresses melt away as my mind gets a chance to bathe in the sounds of sweet <span style="font-style: italic;">bhajans</span>. The occasional crackling of moist wood in the campfire blends with melodious beats from Amal's mridanga, Nani's kartalas, and Kumari's singing Maha-mantra melodies. We're surrounded by old-growth red pine forest, and it's as if these grandfather trees are standing there, participating, in their own quiet way. Unpretentious <span style="font-style: italic;">bhajans</span> like these inspire me on the tour. Nobody is trying to show off. We're just winding down the day, meditating on the holy names, focusing on Krishna.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 8, Wednesday, Hume Lake. Ekadasi.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG0mX57oZI/AAAAAAAAAJc/Qq--IGzIqLY/s1600-h/web_sequoia4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG0mX57oZI/AAAAAAAAAJc/Qq--IGzIqLY/s200/web_sequoia4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103058424132510098" border="0" /></a>It's early morning. Several guys roam out into the surrounding pine forest to collect firewood. Others are busy tucking potatoes into aluminum foil. Dasa and Premanjana build a large campfire to create mounds of glowing red embers. When the fire dies down, Dasa whacks away at the embers to break them up and spread them evenly across the pit. We toss foil-wrapped potatoes onto the embers, followed by dry twigs and branches. The potatoes are being cooked from two sides, by the embers below, and by the resuming fire above. 45 minutes later, we try to retrieve them with chapati tongs and sticks. Mohini inspects one. She unravels the tin foil and breaks apart the potato inside. Soft, thoroughly cooked. She prepares it with butter, salt and sour cream, and offers it to the murti of Srila Prabhupada. Now we're ready for a nice Ekadasi <span style="font-style: italic;">prasadam</span> breakfast.<br /><br />Time to clean up and load the buses. Nani (Ananda Gopal from Hawaii) is inspired to do service this morning and washes pots for about an hour at the water spigot. After that we're off to man-made Hume Lake in the Sequoia National Forest.<br /><br />Our goal for today is to fit drama rehearsals into the schedule, to train new actors who are replacing Sundari and Rasikananda. Between them they played Hanuman / Lord Nityananda and Sukadeva Goswami / Yudhisthira / Ananta the carpenter. It will take four less experienced volunteers to replace these two gifted <span style="font-style: italic;">prabhus</span>. Sundari is going back to school, which starts early in Hawaii. Rasikananda needs to make money and has been offered a design job in Los Angeles.<br /><br />At our pre-trip inspection of the buses, Sacinandana Prabhu notices that the water pump belt on the school bus is cracked and looks like it needs replacement. Upon closer inspection, some of the other belts look worn and are starting to fray. We decide to send the boys' school bus to Fresno, to a truck repair place, to have the belts replaced. We split the youth into two groups, one who prefers to spend the day shopping in Fresno, the other swimming and rehearsing the drama at Hume Lake.<br /><br />I stay with the group that spends the day at Hume Lake. I help Satvata Prabhu prepare lunch. At the swimming beach, Jaya Radhe, Deva, Jaya, Ani, Dasa, Laksmi, Krsnapriya, and Basab have an involved discussion about the merits of astrology. Is it that if you believe in astrology you don't really have faith in Krishna, that Krishna will take care of you? The arguments go back and forth.<br /><br />In the evening we drive to Fresno, where we shop for groceries and serve a dinner of mashed potato and vegetable <span style="font-style: italic;">subji</span> in the parking lot of a Target supermarket. By 10:00 p.m. the lights go out in the parking lot. We take it as a sign to board the buses and hit the road again, hauling north along Route 99, then I-5, towards Oregon state.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 9, Thursday, Crater Lake National Park.</span><br /><br />The Klamath River Rest and Recreation Area on the state line between California and Oregon serves as our breakfast stop. We have a bit of a drive ahead of us so it's a short stop. We continue on Interstate 5 northbound. The ladies' bus is blissed out on <span style="font-style: italic;">bhajans</span>... they radio the men's bus over the walkie-talkie, showing off the <span style="font-style: italic;">bhajans</span> they're having, including singing the Brahma Samhita Prayers, Siksastakam Prayers, and Anapayini's rendition of Markine Bhagavata Dharma. The landscape changes gradually from arid scrub to forested to lush and green. There's more rainfall in Oregon than in California. After several hours we arrive at Crater Lake National Park.<br /><br />This is the only park that gave us an educational fee waiver, which we put in a request for at all the parks we had planned to visit this summer. "To educate our students about the beauty of God's creation." So we present the fee waiver at the park entrance, and are waived through by the rangers.<br /><br />The winding road climbs up and over the rim of an extinct volcano's crater. As we cross over the top of the rim to the other side, we can see why the rangers gave us the fee waiver. The cobalt blue, almost fluorescent deep blue waters of crater lake are a mysterious beauty of God's creation that have little comparison anywhere else on the planet. 1,900 feet deep, the water has a clarity of 100 feet visibility, and contains almost no dissolved solids due to the absence of any incoming water source like a river. The lake is fed by rain and snow melt, which equals the rate of evaporation. The hard volcanic rim around the crater seeps little sediment into the cold water, preserving its clear, deep blue, mesmerizing color.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG1hH57ocI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/efS0aKzzleQ/s1600-h/web_crater_lake1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG1hH57ocI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/efS0aKzzleQ/s400/web_crater_lake1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103059433449824706" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I ponder another aspect of the majesty of Krishna's creation, as I try to imagine the peak of this volcano before it blew off and created this huge 6-miles-in-diameter caldera which is now filled with water. I try to imagine the eruption, the sheer force of it, which must have been visible from hundreds of miles away. There's something uneasy about standing inside the caldera of a volcano, even if the geologists say it is extinct. From this vantage point, I can see other, active volcanoes in the distance, to the north and south. We're in the midst of the Cascade Range, a long string of volcanoes, some active, some dormant, some extinct.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG1vX57odI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/7--unOELalU/s1600-h/web_crater_lake2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG1vX57odI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/7--unOELalU/s200/web_crater_lake2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103059678262960594" border="0" /></a>There's a path that leads down to the waterline inside the caldera. Most of the youth don their swim suits and climb on down. I stay back, along with a core team of people, to prepare lunch. From the photos they bring back on their digital cameras, it seems like it was definitely worth the hike down the caldera. It seems that some brave people actually jumped into the cold water and swam for a few seconds.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG17n57oeI/AAAAAAAAAKE/ALHtAoUdfXA/s1600-h/web_crater_lake3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG17n57oeI/AAAAAAAAAKE/ALHtAoUdfXA/s200/web_crater_lake3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103059888716358114" border="0" /></a>After everyone returns, by about 4:30 p.m., and we do a head count to make sure we're not missing anyone, we serve a late lunch and take group photos with Crater Lake in the background. Then it's time to get back on the buses. We're expected in Seattle tomorrow.<br /><br />The familiar rumble of the bus engine feels like home away from home. The only constant in a constantly changing landscape.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG2IH57ofI/AAAAAAAAAKM/EvSJjkBbqTg/s1600-h/web_crater_lake4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtG2IH57ofI/AAAAAAAAAKM/EvSJjkBbqTg/s400/web_crater_lake4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103060103464722930" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 10, Friday, Seattle. </span><br /><br />The buses are parked at a rest area south of Tacoma early this Friday morning. We decide to stay until people get up, so they have sufficient sinks and rest rooms to attend to their morning routines. We serve breakfast here. My wife, Jaya Radhe, is getting off the tour today. She's a teacher and needs to fly home to begin teacher's meetings a week before school starts. As it turns out, we have family in Seattle. Jaya Radhe's grandma, aunt, uncle and several cousins.<br /><br />We drop Jaya Radhe off at the Wild Waves water park exit, where her aunt is waiting to pick her up. Jaya Radhe will spend the day with relatives and fly out late this evening. It's a teary eyed goodbye. Both I and the rest of the crew will miss her. She adds so much life to the bus tour with her good natured, personable approach to the daily challenges. I'm generally introverted. Jaya Radhe is the opposite. She thrives on socializing with people on the tour, being everyone's friend and well-wisher. It's sad to see her leave. After several rounds of hugs and goodbyes, we part.<br /><br />Today is laundry day. Time to wash a week's worth of dirty clothes that have been piling up on and under our bunk beds, and in our bags. Finding a laundromat is sometimes easier said than done. I finally call 411 directory information, and ask for the Chamber of Commerce for Bellevue, the suburb we're driving through on the way to the temple in Redmond.<br /><br />"Yeah, hi. I'm with a church youth group from Florida, traveling through Seattle today. We're looking for a laundromat in the Bellevue area where we can have our youth wash their laundry? Would you have any ideas or suggestions for us?"<br /><br />"Uh, hmmm... let me see. Laundromat? You mean a self-service coin laundry, not one of those dry cleaners, right?"<br /><br />"Yes, coin laundry."<br /><br />"Okay, I'm googling "coin laundry" in the Bellevue area right now and... Google is showing me a Kwik 'n Cleaner Laundry and Dry Cleaning on 156th Avenue Northeast."<br /><br />"Great! How do we get there from the 520 freeway?"<br /><br />"Let me see. Google says to take the Redmond way exit, then right on 24th Avenue North..."<br /><br />I am amazed that the Chamber of Commerce help desk person is so helpful, and even more amazed that he's using Google to find all of his information. Makes me think twice about bringing along one of those Internet data cards the cell phone companies are offering... we did it last year but didn't use it that much... it ended up costing us more than $650. The call to 411 directory assistance and to the chamber of commerce is costing me only a $1.<br /><br />By 5:00 p.m. we've washed and dried our laundry, more or less (some items are still a bit wet), and Satvata Prabhu has cooked a late pasta lunch slash early dinner for us. We eat linner (lunch/dinner) in the parking lot next to the laundromat. Then we head out to find the temporary Seattle temple. They've relocated the deities to an office building in Redmond while they're building the new temple in the Seattle suburb of Sammamish.<br /><br />Arriving at an office park in Redmond we see a hand-painted sign, "Vedic Cultural Center", pointing towards the back of one of the buildings. We follow the sign. Next we see a giant hand-painted "108" glued to one of the office building windows. There's an open garage door with some devotees cooking on an outdoor burner, camped out in this unusual location. This must be it. I approach them. They show me to the entrance around the corner. ... Lo and behold, a temple room temporarily manifests in the middle of a warehouse building. The deity curtain is open for darshan. I see four sets of large deities, Gaura Nitai, Radha-Krishna, Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra, and Sita-Ram Lakshman Hanuman, on altars raised above the warehouse floor, humbly awaiting their new Vedic Cultural Center to be built. I pay my respects, offering prostrated <span style="font-style: italic;">dandavats</span>.<br /><br />The devotees and congregation are expecting us to perform here tonight. It was supposed to be a hall program but somehow the promotions didn't work out in time. (The devotees were busy with another festival that happened the week before our arrival.) So Anapayini and I scope out the available space in the temple room and decide on what corner of the room to use as the "stage." Then we put down mats on the floor where the audience will sit, and find an empty room for the performers to change and get ready.<br /><br />By evening <span style="font-style: italic;">arati,</span> I notice that there are only about 20 guests in the temple room. I search for the performers and give them a little pep talk. "<span style="font-style: italic;">This is going to be a small, intimate performance. There are just a handful of people in the audience tonight. But these few people are the most important people in the Seattle congregation. They are the committed ones. They are building a 4 million dollar Vedic Cultural Center. If you give them your best performance tonight, hopefully they will be so impressed that next year they'll rent a hall for us.</span>" The performers agree to give it their best, despite the low turnout.<br /><br />I sit up against the wall of the temporary temple room to watch the performance. I must have seen it two dozen times by now, but every time there's a new nuance I can appreciate. As I watch each scene, I can see that the performers are really trying their best to stay focused. (Thank you!) It's not easy to tour the country and perform with volunteers, amateur actors, some of whom have never acted before coming on this tour. It's entirely up to their inspiration and devotion if the performance will be good or not.<br /><br />During the Karna and Kunti scene, I can't hold back my tears. They're just streaming down my cheek. I don't bother to wipe them away. I decide that I am not going to care about people looking at me. If they are watching the play, they're probably crying too.<br /><br />Within five minutes after the performance is over I'm approached by Harivilas Prabhu and two of the local festival organizers about renting a hall next year. They insist that they will rent a really nice theater they've used in the past, with a capacity of 450 people, and that we should let them know four months in advance so they have enough time to prepare and promote.<br /><br />The Seattle devotees serve a nice <span style="font-style: italic;">prasadam</span> dinner for the guests and performers. At around 10:30 p.m., we're packing up and loading the buses again, heading ever further north to the Canadian border.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 11, Saturday, Vancouver Ratha-yatra, Day One.</span><br /><br />I wake up due to people getting on and off the bus, making the bus bounce slightly as they step on or off it. We're at the Vancouver temple parking lot once again. Don't ask me why we drove from Vancouver all the way to Mexico and back again. It's a long story. Let's just say that it would save Festival of India and the bus tour tens of thousands of dollars if certain Ratha-yatra festival coordinators could agree to coordinate their dates with one another so we didn't have to drive up and down the Pacific coast twice in one festival season. Grrr. Arrgh.<br /><br />By Krishna's arrangement, we are at Vancouver temple parking lot once again. The men are helping to set up the festival, on location at Stanley Park, near the ocean. The ladies are helping to pick marigolds in the field behind the Vancouver temple and string garlands to decorate the Ratha-yatra chariots. They're also helping to shuck (de-husk) corn on the cob for one of the festival food booths. Today is the first of a two-day weekend Ratha-yatra festival.<br /><br />Around 1:30 p.m. we all meet at the festival site. The tent village is set up in historic Stanley Park, on English Bay, right on the shore front, facing the Pacific Ocean. We've set up a children's tent, several food booths, a free feast tent in the center, the main stage with large tents above where the audience sits (for shade), a music stage for bands to perform, questions and answers, mantra meditation, vegetarianism, reincarnation, a deity tent for Lord Jagannatha... now we just need people to show up.<br /><br />It's 3:00 p.m. We've been scheduled to perform. There are seven people in the audience. Two of whom are devotees. The festival site is empty. It's an overcast day, a little on the cold side out here in the park next to ocean. The logic is that if we perform, then the non-moving living entities will applaud and gradually the moving living entities will find their way into the tent because they see something is going on at the festival site.<br /><br />Hmmm. Aha. Right. Hmmmm again. Okay. We will perform. Come on, it will be fun. After all, this is our devotional service. Nobody is paying us to do this. Think of it as a dress rehearsal run-through. Performance number 21. We need the practice. So we do it. We get ready (it takes about 45 minutes if we rush it). We perform for one hour and 15 minutes.<br /><br />Anapayini's father has come to see the performance. He drove up all the way from Seattle to see us perform this afternoon. Overall, the site remains rather empty. The youth are somewhat disappointed. I don't blame them. This is supposed to be Vancouver Ratha-yatra? We could have spent this Saturday in a more productive way, from an outreach perspective. Saturday evenings are a great time for hall performances.<br /><br />I ask some of the local devotees about the reason for the low turnout. It turns out they did not promote Saturday as being part of the festival. In the press releases, newspaper advertisements, and posters they focused on tomorrow, Sunday, the actual day of the Ratha-yatra chariot procession. They didn't promote Saturday because they thought fewer people would come, and if the press came today, they'd be disappointed.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 12, Sunday, Vancouver Ratha-yatra. Chariot Parade.</span><br /><br />All good things come to those who wait. Lots of people have come out today for the Sunday chariot procession down Beach Street. Devotees and congregation members are getting ready to pull the ropes of the chariots. The television cameras are here. Just as the three chariots begin to move, it begins to rain. People rush to take shelter under the overhangs in front of store windows. It pours for a good fifteen minutes. Then the rain stops, the sun emerges from behind the clouds, and Lord Jagannatha's smiling face blesses all who look upon Him as he rides into Stanley Park.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtHVXH57ohI/AAAAAAAAAKc/I4I7S1gs5WQ/s1600-h/web_van_ry1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtHVXH57ohI/AAAAAAAAAKc/I4I7S1gs5WQ/s400/web_van_ry1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103094446023221778" border="0" /></a><br />I dance the entire parade route, in front of Lord Jagannatha's chariot. Several youth dance in front of and behind me, and I try to keep up. Jahnavi, Lalita, Narayani, Prtha, Saci, Govinda, Vrajesh and others. I must say I now have a newfound appreciation for those people who can dance like this all of the time. It really requires some stamina of the leg muscles.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flungingpictures/sets/72157601407170297/"><br />Here are some photos that one of the passers-by took, and posted on Flickr.com.</a><br /><br />At the festival site, I play <span style="font-style: italic;">mridanga</span> with the <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana </span>party that accompanies Lord Jagannatha, Lady Subhadra, and Lord Baladeva. Gradually Their Lordships descend from Their chariots and are carried to Their festival tent, where They will spend the afternoon accepting visitors who offer fruits, and who get some maha <span style="font-style: italic;">prasadam</span> fruit in return.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtHVtH57oiI/AAAAAAAAAKk/ZOmELY0pOpo/s1600-h/web_van_ry2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtHVtH57oiI/AAAAAAAAAKk/ZOmELY0pOpo/s200/web_van_ry2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103094823980343842" border="0" /></a>I look around and observe the crowds. The free feast tent is busy. People on bicycles who have been riding through the park have pulled into the feast line and are waiting patiently to get a plate. The Questions and Answers tent is well attended.<br /><br />Once again it's time for our festival tour youth to get on stage and perform DEVOTION. This time the tent is packed with people. I'm glad that so many have shown up and are now watching the performance intently. DEVOTION is a dance drama with live music that features many of the devotional talents these youth have acquired while growing up in the Hare Krishna movement. Musical skills on traditional instruments, singing <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span>, acting, and dancing. The performance gives them a sense of pride in their upbringing, seeing so many people appreciate their skills, talents and abilities. After the performance, the youth mingle with the audience and get to hear their positive feedback.<br /><br />Sunset signals time for take-down. For the last time this season, we change into our work clothes, put on yellow Festival of India gloves and aprons, and begin to disassemble the exhibits, tents, and stages. Three hours later, the whole place is restored back to its pre-festival ocean-front park-like state. The festival equipment is once again tucked into the belly of the large yellow Festival of India trailer. And we're headed to the temple for a delicious <span style="font-style: italic;">prasadam</span> feast! Set-up, chanting, dancing, feasting, and take-down. Ten times at ten Ratha-yatra festivals across the continent. Plus a dozen hall programs, adventures at national parks... What more can you hope to do with your summer? Join the festival tour.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Stay tuned for details of the final week of adventures. We've yet to perform in Boise, Idaho, Denver, Colorado, and Miami, Florida. And we're snorkeling on the coral reef in Key Largo, Florida.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtH1yX57ojI/AAAAAAAAAKs/XvnHION5r-4/s1600-h/web_van_men.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RtH1yX57ojI/AAAAAAAAAKs/XvnHION5r-4/s400/web_van_men.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103130098546745906" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164690330723510339.post-32464936728762614192007-08-21T11:59:00.000-07:002007-08-22T12:56:06.299-07:003rd Installment - Rocky Mountains to Los Angeles<span style="font-weight: bold;">July 23, Monday - Golden, British Columbia - Whitewater Rafting</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxOrX57oII/AAAAAAAAAHU/qDcc5TTtbAk/s1600-h/web_wwr1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxOrX57oII/AAAAAAAAAHU/qDcc5TTtbAk/s200/web_wwr1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101538984962269314" border="0" /></a>We approach the town of Golden, British Columbia, around 6:30 a.m. and park at the Husky truck stop just outside of town. The tall peaks of the Canadian Rocky Mountains surround us. The rising sun casts a golden glow on the snow-capped peaks and the green pine forests below. I notice wide swathes of tracks cut through the pine forests, the damage done by the skiing industry.<br /><br />We refuel the buses, dump the contents of our septic and greywater tanks, and refill the freshwater tanks. The youth begin to wake up. We drive down to the Golden public swimming pool and utilize their showering facilities on this cold Monday morning at 7,000 feet elevation. Golden is on the Continental Divide, high up in the mountains.<br /><br />By ten o'clock we've completed our spiritual morning program and <span style="font-style: italic;">prasadam</span> breakfast at the swimming pool parking lot. We drive up the <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxO0H57oJI/AAAAAAAAAHc/90yfkykKkJU/s1600-h/web_wwr2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxO0H57oJI/AAAAAAAAAHc/90yfkykKkJU/s200/web_wwr2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101539135286124690" border="0" /></a>hills to the location of our outfitters, Alpine Rafting, who will take the 53 of us out on the Kicking Horse river for their "Ultimate Whitewater Adventure."<br /><br />After filling out some paperwork and liability release waivers we head into the school bus provided by the rafting outfitters that will take us to the put-in point. Our lead guide for the day is Eirick from Norway. He has no idea what he is in for. He explains to us the potential dangers of whitewater rafting. He points out the window to the rapids below, asking us to notice the six-foot waves. The youth gasp. We spontaneously break out into loud Namaste Narasimhaya prayers. We chant at the top of our lungs, and some of us begin to beat our hands against the ceiling of the school bus, using it as a mridanga. Eirick bobs his head back and forth. When we start chanting Hare Krishna he says, "Eh, I know that one! Is that the Krishna Das melody? I have the Krishna Das album where he chants that song." Cool. Eirick asks about the significance of the songs we are chanting. It turns out his parents are buddhists, and he's traveled to Nepal before, and has even been to our ISKCON Ratha-yatra festival in Vancouver.<br /><br />Once we get to our put-in location, we are given wet suits, booties, life jackets and helmets. The guides instruct us in safety procedures to observe on the river. We break up into teams of six and are assigned one guide per raft. The rafts are large, inflatable, nylon, self-bailing, with steering oars for the guide who sits at the back, and one paddle each for the rafting youth. Each team carries their raft to the river side, puts in, mounts, and pushes off. The first few minutes on this opaque white glacier melt-water river are smooth and calm. We practice "right forward - left backward" commands. Then come the rapids. Billowing waves crash all around.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxPB357oKI/AAAAAAAAAHk/HqbdLJ_G1_E/s1600-h/web_wwr3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxPB357oKI/AAAAAAAAAHk/HqbdLJ_G1_E/s400/web_wwr3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101539371509325986" border="0" /></a><br />Our guide yells at the youth at the front of our raft to go "high side," that is to jump onto the front of the raft to give it more weight and prevent the waves from tipping us over. We fall flat onto their stomachs at the front of the raft, one on top of the other. Waves crash over our heads. We reappear on the other side, to be greeted by more waves coming at us from all sides. We have water in our eyes. The commands fly past our ears. "All forward!" - "Left back, right forward!" - "Backward paddle!"<br /><br />After about a minute of intense rapids, we come to calmer sections of the river. Then to more rapids. Then to calm waters again. At one point the guide allows some of us jump in for a dip and swim alongside the rafts. I stay safely in the raft and try to film some video of the rafters behind us, who are still braving the rapids we have just come through. I manage to catch a few good shots. The video camera gets splashed and I quickly return it into the water-proof case. Our guide points to more rapids ahead.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxPWX57oLI/AAAAAAAAAHs/HCuf0Br7vxg/s1600-h/web_wwr4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxPWX57oLI/AAAAAAAAAHs/HCuf0Br7vxg/s400/web_wwr4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101539723696644274" border="0" /></a><br />By the end of the afternoon we arrive at the take-out point. I am soaked. I have water in my boots up too my heels. I unzip the straps and peel the wet boots off my feet. My skin is water-logged like a swollen raisin. "That was soooooo much fun!" I hear one of the youth call out from behind me. Fun, yes. And now I'm tired.<br /><br />We board the outfitter's school bus that will take us back to the rafting headquarters. Our lead guide Eirick from Norway is with us again. This time he's brought along his guide buddy, Jimmy, who is from New Zealand. A few minutes into the bus ride he asks if we're going to sing again. Jimmy says that he's come along because Eirick told him about our cool chanting earlier today, and that he had to hear it for himself. We can't refuse their invitation. Amal, Kumari and Kalindi lead several Hare Krishna Maha-mantra melodies on the way back down the mountain.<br /><br />Jimmy is impressed. He wants to know more about what we do and who we are. He says he understands the benefits of giving up meat eating. He rarely eats red meat. He says he enjoys being a rafting guide because he gets to meet so many different people and find out about their cultures.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 24, Tuesday - Sharanagati Farm Community, Ashcroft, British Columbia</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstV_n57n5I/AAAAAAAAAFc/97JU2-0EOX0/s1600-h/web_P1030042.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstV_n57n5I/AAAAAAAAAFc/97JU2-0EOX0/s200/web_P1030042.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101265554459303826" border="0" /></a>Sharanagati is a farm community of Krishna devotees in the Canadian province of British Columbia, just south of the town of Ashcroft. The Trans Canada Highway (TCH) winds its way across the landscape next to the farm, following the Thompson River.<br /><br />We arrive at 3:00 a.m. The stars are shining brightly. There are no city lights here, no smog to obscure our view of the sparkling night sky. I turn off the bus engine. There's silence. Intense silence. I can hear myself breathe. We're not used to this. It feels eery. Not a sound anywhere. Usually we park at truck stops or on busy city streets or parking lots overnight. It's very calm and peaceful here. We park along the dirt road next to Kulashekar Prabhu's house, which he has transformed into the official ISKCON temple of Sharanagati farm.<br /><br />The temple building has two stories. The ground floor houses the sleeping quarters for men, and is surrounded by a large, glass-enclosed porch that lends warmth to the building during the winter months. The top floor features a spacious temple room, along with a kitchen, showers, and guest rooms, which are being used by the ladies today. The entire house seems like it is constructed from locally milled wood from the dead pine trees in the area. Water comes from a trickle of a stream flowing from the hill behind the house. Electricity is provided by the sun, which shines onto solar panels to charge battery banks that power the 12-volt electric lights illuminating the temple room.<br /><br />We hold <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span> for Kulashekara Prabhu's large, neem Gaura-Nitai deities. A set of Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra deities are also visiting the temple, on loan from Kuvalesaya Prabhu.<br /><br />After breakfast, Kartamasa and Radhakunda Prabhus have arranged for us to split up into smaller groups of ten to visit devotee homes in the Sharanagati community on a rotating system. They have prepared a questionnaire for the youth to use in interviewing the local devotees.<br /><br />We start out with a jeep ride to Kartamasa's trailer, where we board mountain bikes and ride down the winding dirt road to the home of Ghosh Thakur and Mother Girija. Their daughters Kalindi and Gopal own several horses which they make available for rides. While some of our group ride the horses, others meet with Mother Girija inside her cozy log-cabin home. She has beautiful deities with hand-sewn outfits, backdrops and gorgeous decorations all around the altar. She explains that during the long winter months her and her family spend time making outfits, sewing for the deities, to keep themselves engaged. When asked what advice she has to pass on to our generation, she shares that devotee association is very important. She hopes that we will always remain in the association of Krishna's devotees.<br /><br />Next we walk along a pasture to the house of Yadubara and Vishakha Prabhus, and their daughter, Hari Priya. Mother Vishakha greets us with a treat of "<span style="font-style: italic;">goji</span>" berries that she grows in her garden. They are supposed to be very nutritious. We sit down in their living room for a short discussion with these two senior disciples of Srila Prabhupada. Invariably, we ask about Yadubara Prabhu's service of filming Srila Prabhupada. He shows us video footage from his new DVD series, <span style="font-style: italic;">Following Srila Prabhupada</span>. It consists of digital transfers from the original film reels of the footage that Yadubara Prabhu filmed when he followed Srila Prabhupada around the world from 1972 - 1977, with voice-overs by the various devotees that were present in each scene, remembering the incidents and telling the background story behind each event.<br /><br />We climb the rutted forest road up a hillside and down again, to the Sri Sri Radha Banabihari ashram cottage cared for by Mothers Yamuna and Dinatarine. This straw-bale house is covered with layers of tan-colored clay, with rounded walls and corners, and is surrounded by beautifully landscaped flower beds and gardens. It looks like a quaint hobbit cottage out of the epic "Lord of the Rings," only a lot more luxurious, fit for a royal couple. The masters of this house are Sri Sri Radha Banabihari, the gorgeous Radha-Krishna deities that are <span style="font-style: italic;">ashta-dhatu</span> replicas of the Radha Raman deities in Vrindavan. Their altar is ornately decorated with fruits, flowers, and golden trim. Mother Yamuna's advice for us is that we should do what we love for Krishna, and love what we do for Krishna.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstXwn57n8I/AAAAAAAAAF0/BgyWqdXrgg4/s1600-h/web_yamuna_group.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstXwn57n8I/AAAAAAAAAF0/BgyWqdXrgg4/s400/web_yamuna_group.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101267495784521666" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstWbn57n6I/AAAAAAAAAFk/qvsJQIaDH2I/s1600-h/web_pickup_truck.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstWbn57n6I/AAAAAAAAAFk/qvsJQIaDH2I/s200/web_pickup_truck.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101266035495640994" border="0" /></a> After that, we ride in the back of an old pickup truck to Kalakantha and Jitamitra Prabhu's house, where we are treated to a wonderful <span style="font-style: italic;">prasadam</span> lunch and cake in honor of their daughter Laksmi's birthday. After lunch, we are taken by pickup truck once again deep into the forest, to the start of the challenge course.<br /><br />The challenge course was set up by Kartamasa and the Sharanagati youth for the Camp Govardhan summer camps they hold here. To warm up, we hop through tires arranged strategically on the forest floor. We scale several horizontal tree trunks that have been raised about three feet off the ground. The goal is to get from one end to the other without falling off and without touching any branches or supporting trees.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstZyn57n9I/AAAAAAAAAF8/g3sgxAOo0Uk/s1600-h/web_obstacle_course.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstZyn57n9I/AAAAAAAAAF8/g3sgxAOo0Uk/s200/web_obstacle_course.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101269729167515602" border="0" /></a>Then we have to lift our entire team through an open hole in a vertical mesh of fake leaves, about four feet off the ground, without touching the mesh. The youth have to strategize and carry their team mates in creative ways. "Stay stiff like a stick, Jaya!", one youth yells. "Don't move or you'll touch the mesh!" yells another. Somehow we get everyone through to the other side. The last person runs toward the hole and dives forward into the arms of the others who are standing by to catch her.<br /><br />A ten-foot wall awaits us as the next obstacle. We have to scale the wall and climb over to the other side, assisting our team mates. Then there are some ropes courses... where ropes have been strung between trees and we have to maneuver from one end of the rope to the other without falling off. It's quite a challenge and I guess that's why they call this a challenge course. We have to work cooperatively in teams to overcome each challenge.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstaHH57n-I/AAAAAAAAAGE/1GI9BgwJ5nE/s1600-h/web_obst_course_jr.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstaHH57n-I/AAAAAAAAAGE/1GI9BgwJ5nE/s200/web_obst_course_jr.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101270081354833890" border="0" /></a>We end the day with a pizza party organized by the Sharanagati devotees at the festival site next to a small lake. At dusk, just as the mosquitoes emerge in full force, we board the bus and head back to our sleeping quarters for the night, at Kulashekar Prabhu's house, the ISKCON temple.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 25, Wednesday, Sharanagati Farm Community</span><br /><br />Today is our second day at Sharanagati. It's Ekadasi, a holy day where we fast from grains and beans. Some of us attend part of the morning program at Mother Yamuna's house. I drive the second bus load of youth to her house. As I enter, the devotees are engaged in a lively discussion about what inspires each of them in Krishna consciousness. People are taking turns going around the room in round-robin fashion, sharing their realizations. One lady remembers something she has recently read in Chaitanya Bhagavata, about how we can perceive difficult times in our lives as Krishna's mercy. She quotes an example of the Phalgu river in India that has a dry river bed, but if you put your hand beneath the surface, there is water flowing. The difficult times we endure in this material world are compared to the dry river bed. And Krishna's mercy is compared to the water flowing just beneath the surface. His mercy is there, in the midst of our suffering, helping us get closer to Him.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstanX57n_I/AAAAAAAAAGM/bEFUqKgmQdM/s1600-h/web_raspberry_group.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstanX57n_I/AAAAAAAAAGM/bEFUqKgmQdM/s400/web_raspberry_group.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101270635405615090" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Breakfast is in Bala Krishna Prabhu's raspberry patch. He runs the organic Bhumi Farms on the property, and today we're helping him pick the ripe raspberries that are weighing down several rows of bushes. Bala Krishna Prabhu explains that we can eat one, and put one in the bucket. Eat one, put one in the bucket. We offer the raspberry patch and begin our Ekadasi breakfast / raspberry picking adventure. With 50 of us split up into teams of two, we are allocated to strategic positions in the raspberry patch and systematically pick the ripe raspberries from one end of the patch to the other. Halfway through the morning we stop for a water break, and Bala Krishna Prabhu brings out home-made raspberry ice cream. Yum!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstbA357oAI/AAAAAAAAAGU/GFAguR_HoXE/s1600-h/web_raspberry_prtha.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstbA357oAI/AAAAAAAAAGU/GFAguR_HoXE/s200/web_raspberry_prtha.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101271073492279298" border="0" /></a>We have lunch here, a pot-luck prepared by various families. Mother Yamuna made the quinoa, with opulent morsels of cheese throughout. In the middle of the afternoon we depart for the town of Ashcroft, which is about 45 minutes away.<br /><br />We're performing at the Ashcroft Opera House this evening. The name sounds imposing. Ashcroft is a town of 2000 residents and the opera house is an old historic building which has been restored by a devotee named Mahatseva Prabhu. He runs the place as a vegetarian restaurant with live music and entertainment on stage in the evenings and on weekends. Tonight we're booked as the feature presentation: DEVOTION. We park our buses next to the opera house and unload all the costumes, drama props, sound system and lights. Time to set up the show. Haridasa and Nitai configure the microphones. Markendeya sets up the lights. The dancers get ready in one room, the actors in another. Gundica, Gita and Varshana are busy applying make-up onto the performers.<br /><br />"Ladies and gentlemen... Welcome to Devotion!" Anapayini, our director, starts the show. The dancers open with Pushpanjali and an invocation piece. Maharaja Pariksit and Shukadeva Goswami set the scene. Hiranyakashipu plays a mean demon. Queen Kunti enchants. The dancers and actors put on another stellar performance. By the end of the performance, Mother Yamuna is crying, hugging us, wishing us all the best in our Krishna consciousness. Other devotees are crying too. I again try to make my way to the exit doors to get some testimonials from the non-devotee audience as they leave the opera house. "How did you like the show?" "What did you think about the content?" Etc. One of the responses I get tonight from a young man is that he is impressed with the devotion our performers expressed on stage. "They really have a love for what they do and it shows." Appropriately, our show is named Devotion.<br /><br />We mingle with the audience, eat <span style="font-style: italic;">prasadam</span> (sanctified vegetarian food) with them, and later pack up, clean up, board the buses, and are on the road again by 10:30 p.m. The youth take rest on their bus bunk beds. The drivers drive through the starry night.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 26, Thursday, Vancouver, British Columbia</span><br /><br />I wake up and look outside. We're parked in the ISKCON Vancouver Temple parking lot. I get up and see that it's already 6:30 a.m. I scope out the bathroom situation, then wake up the counselors, who wake up the other youth and get them to their respective bathrooms. I shower and get ready and make it to a portion of the deity <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span> after <span style="font-style: italic;">gurupuja</span>.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxjrX57oRI/AAAAAAAAAIc/O-Vhj2WBDa8/s1600-h/web_van_deities.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxjrX57oRI/AAAAAAAAAIc/O-Vhj2WBDa8/s400/web_van_deities.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101562074706452754" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Sri Sri Radha Madan-Mohan are especially beautiful today. The plan is to spend a day of rest and relaxation at the Vancouver temple, since we usually don't get to relax here whenever we visit during Ratha-yatra festival time. This will give the youth time to do <span style="font-style: italic;">bhajans</span> in the temple room, sort out their laundry, etc.<br /><br />The counselors decide that we should do laundry today, since we will be driving most of tomorrow on a long haul from Canada all the way to the southwestern United States, making our way to Baja California, Mexico. The laundromat does not have enough washing machines for all 53 of us. So we first drop off the girls at the laundromat on Royal Oak street, about seven blocks from the temple. Then the bus drivers take the buses to truck repair shops around Vancouver, looking for someone who can fix the air conditioning on the boys' bus, and repair the engine "Jake" brakes on the girls' bus.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the boys play soccer on the lawn behind the temple property. I mingle and play goalie for a while. The ball is kicked out of bounds several times into the boggy ditch next to the temple lawn. (Vancouver temple rests atop the boggy peat moss of the Fraser River delta. The river runs about a mile behind the temple.) Ganga and Markendeya jump into the ditch to rescue the ball. Both come back scratching their legs and complaining about the stinging nettles.<br /><br />At 1:00 p.m. I ask Aniruddha, son of the vice president, to give me a ride to the laundromat to pick up the girls' laundry. I had promised I would come back to pick them up with the bus -- but the buses have not yet returned from the repair place. So Aniruddha gives me a ride in his Toyota hybrid gas / electric car. The girls are a little disappointed that they'll have to walk down the hill back to the temple, but happy they won't have to carry their laundry.<br /><br />Bhadra Nitai and his wife Kala Rupini Prabhus have cooked a stunning 12-course <span style="font-style: italic;">prasadam</span> feast for lunch, just for the youth. They are truly amazing cooks. Their kitchen is spotlessly clean. Everything is organized meticulously in tupperware containers, labeled, and there is not a speck of grease or spills anywhere in the kitchen. Everything is cooked in ghee. Between the two of them, they cook the offerings for Sri Sri Radha Madan-Mohan and the <span style="font-style: italic;">prasadam</span> for all the devotees, day in, day out, year after year, at the Vancouver temple. Today they have outdone themselves. I cannot thank them enough for the outstanding <span style="font-style: italic;">prasadam</span> they've cooked for the youth.<br /><br />Finally the boys' bus returns, unsuccessful in its mission. None of the mechanics in Vancouver were able to repair the air conditioning in one day. They wanted us to schedule time a week in advance. One mechanic thought it was an electrical problem. Another thought the compressors were bad. The parts would have to be ordered. So we decide to call it quits on this issue. The boys have endured the no-air conditioning situation for a whole month already, and they have 22 windows they can open on that school bus.<br /><br />By 9:30 p.m. I still haven't heard from the girls' bus. I am getting worried. We were supposed to leave Vancouver by now and be on the road. We have a 26-hour drive from here to Southern California.<br /><br />I get a phone call from Dravinaksa Prabhu, our senior bus driver. He is at Detroit Diesel, an affiliate of the company that builds our bus engine. The mechanics have removed the engine cover. They're three hours into the job. Apparently the Jake brakes (engine retarders that slow down the engine on steep downhills) are not functioning properly because of a leak in the intake manifold gasket. To replace that gasket would take several hours. They would have to remove half the engine to get to it... and the mechanic is saying that if they run into any other troubles it could take days. So he wants to keep the bus in the shop over the weekend and work on it some more. We cannot afford that time, nor can we afford the mechanic's rates of $106 per hour to <span style="font-style: italic;">try</span> to fix the Jake brakes.<br /><br />I have to make a decision. I tell Dravinaksa to have them put it all back together again and that we'll have no choice but to fix this when we get back to Florida at the end of the tour. We cannot afford that kind of down time. We need to keep on going.<br /><br />By midnight the girls' bus finally makes it back to the Vancouver temple parking lot. The boys are sound asleep on the bunk beds of their school bus. The girls are sleeping on the mats in the temple room, an emergency situation. We wake the girls, load their bus, and proceed to drive towards the Canada-US border at Pacific Crossing. We get to the border by 2:00 a.m. and amuse the border patrol officers with our ragged appearance. Everyone is in their pajamas, or shorts and t-shirts, whatever they've been sleeping in. We're red-eyed with disheveled hair, some of the youth are barefoot, too lazy to find their shoes in the dark... A ragged, tired bunch. Normally we would not get off the bus like this, but both I and the other counselors are too tired to care.<br /><br />"Where have you been in Canada?" - "How long are you planning to stay in the US?" ... the questions the officers asks each one of us as we file through the turnstiles are repetitive and expected. Luckily the officers have a sense of humor. They wish us all the best and send us back onto our buses. We're now back in the US of A, crusing down Interstate 5 towards Seattle...<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 27, Friday, Drive to Southern California</span><br /><br />The goal for today is to get as much driving done as possible. We stop only to refuel the buses, and to stretch our legs and rest for a while around breakfast, lunch and dinner. We cook each meal in the on-board bus kitchen, located at the back of the girls' bus (the larger of the two buses.)<br /><br />We make good time. By late afternoon we are at the state line between Oregon and California, at the <span style="font-style: italic;">Klamath River Rest and Recreation Area</span>. Some of us jump into the river to refresh ourselves. Others hold <span style="font-style: italic;">bhajans</span> on the lawn in front of the rest area bathrooms.<br /><br />The youth are waiting for dinner to be cooked. Jaya Radhe is preparing vegetable pasta with a white sauce. I make lemonade, with water, lemon juice and sugar. By about 7:30 p.m. we're ready to serve. The youth line up behind the buckets, on the lawn, next to the rest area parking lot. Everyone has their own bowl and spoon in hand (we've discontinued using disposable plates, cups and spoons two years ago...) I serve the lemonade halfway through the line so that those who don't have separate cups can drink and rehydrate themselves, before filling their bowls with pasta.<br /><br />I place a call to Tukarama Prabhu, the Laguna Beach (California) temple president. It looks like we're making good time and will be able to stop in Laguna Beach tomorrow. So I make arrangements with Tukarama to expect the youth sometime in the late afternoon tomorrow, for<span style="font-style: italic;"> kirtan</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">prasad</span>, and he promises to cook dinner for us.<br /><br />We get back on the road by about 9:30 p.m., after everyone has had a chance to wash their dishes, use the restrooms, brush their teeth, etc. The bus drivers take turns driving through the night, while we sleep on our respective bunk beds.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 28, Saturday, Crossing the Grape Vine, and Laguna Beach</span><br /><br />It's 6:45 a.m. south of Bakersfield on I-5. The sun is rising. I am well aware of the perils that lie ahead. We are an hour away from crossing the infamous "Grape Vine," a mountain pass that climbs up and up and up and up in the middle of the California desert. Attempting this climb through the southern Sierra Nevada mountains in the middle of the day with the hot sun shining down on the black tarmac would be voluntary suicide. (We've overheated and ruined a bus engine on this climb back in 1996, on our then third bus tour.) So I try to instill a sense of urgency in our drivers to climb the Grape Vine before the sun gets to high in the sky.<br /><br />At about 7:30 a.m. I get behind the steering wheel. We're now approaching the base of the ascending highway. The landscape around us is barren wasteland. It looks like it hasn't rained here in years. The sun is rising. We can start to feel the heat. The hills in front of us are tan brown. I carefully scan the highway snaking up the side of the mountain in the distance, traffic slowly climbing up along it.<br /><br />The sounds of a <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span> surprise me, coming from the back of the bus. Some of the youth have risen by now, showered using the on-board bus showers, and are starting a late morning program.<br /><br />I keep my eye on the dashboard temperature gauge. The engine water temperature is rising. We're slowing down to about 35 miles per hour on the uphill climb. Just when I think that I'm almost at the top, I see another, higher hill in front of me. The temperature is rising from 190 degress to 210 to 230.... at this point I switch off the air conditioning. The indoor air temperature rises quickly from the comfortable 76 degrees to a sweltering 89 degrees. Someone yells from the back, "Can you please switch on the A/C?" <br /><br />The bus radiator water temperature stays at 230 degrees and doesn't appear to cool off. We are on a steady climb. The top of the mountain pass is nowhere near. It's time to switch on the heat. Literally. I turn on the bus heating system, which uses the hot engine water to distribute heat throughout the bus. If the youth were not complaining earlier, they are now. It's getting to be a cozy 96 degrees in the passenger cabin. I ask people to open the roof hatches (you can't open the windows on an MCI tour bus while driving.) Finally the elevation sign approaches, letting us know that we're crossing the mountain pass' highest point. Whew! And this is early in the morning. Imagine if we had tried this in the middle of the day.<br /><br />We are now on a steady descent. Our somewhat not-working Jake brake (engine retarder) is put, put, put-ting away... doing very little, but something, to retard the engine and keep it in the third gear on this long downhill grade. On the way up you're worrying about overheating, on the way down about burning out the brakes. We're only able to push the brakes for about 3 seconds every minute or so, barely enough to just slow us down below 2500 RPM in third gear, in order not to burn out the brakes. Our bus is heavy. Finally, by about 9:30 a.m., we're on the other side of the Grape Vine, approaching Los Angeles.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Laguna Beach</span><br /><br />By noon we arrive in Laguna Beach, California. This is a beach town. The whole place is organized around the town center, which is the lifeguard house on the main beach. We let the youth off the buses near the beach. They're excited to see the Pacific Ocean. They proceed to the beach for swimming and volleyball, while I drive Garuda 2 (the big yellow bus) back to the outskirts of town, where there's bus parking.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxQe357oMI/AAAAAAAAAH0/oz0vVmrrXSQ/s1600-h/web_laguna1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxQe357oMI/AAAAAAAAAH0/oz0vVmrrXSQ/s400/web_laguna1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101540969237160130" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I cook lunch on the bus kitchen, then deliver lunch to the beach. Later, I park the bus near the Laguna Beach temple, at around 5:00 p.m. By this time the youth have walked to the temple (about ten blocks from the beach) and are getting changed into devotional clothing for the evening <span style="font-style: italic;">arati kirtana</span> in the temple room. The deities here are beautiful life-size Sri Sri Pancha-Tattva, that is Their Lordships Chaitanya, Nityananda, Gadadhara, Adwaita, and Srivasa Thakur.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxQin57oNI/AAAAAAAAAH8/_j3arDEuU3U/s1600-h/web_laguna2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxQin57oNI/AAAAAAAAAH8/_j3arDEuU3U/s400/web_laguna2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101541033661669586" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After evening <span style="font-style: italic;">arati</span>, the devotees serve us a delicious dinner, consisting of pasta, salad, ice cream and sodas. We're back on the road by 10:30 p.m.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 29, Sunday, ISKCON San Diego </span><br /><br />We wake up on Cass street, next to the Pacific Beach library. I am a bit disoriented as I get out of my bunk bed, trying to figure out in which direction the San Diego ISKCON temple is located. Apparently we're only two blocks away. I scope out the situation and find my way to the temple. I see that there is parking across the street from the temple, in front of the tire repair place, so I walk back to the bus, power up the engine, and drive the bus around the block.<br /><br />It's 6:15 a.m. and I'm waking up the bus tour counselors and other youth, and directing them to the bathrooms. The boys are using the <span style="font-style: italic;">brahmacari ashram</span> bathrooms at the back of the temple, upper level. The girls are using the upstairs bathrooms adjacent to the <span style="font-style: italic;">prasadam</span> room in the front of the temple building. Most us us make it in time for greeting of the deities and <span style="font-style: italic;">gurupuja.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rsxi5n57oPI/AAAAAAAAAIM/LBJUDpV9Sa4/s1600-h/web_sd_radha-giridhari.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rsxi5n57oPI/AAAAAAAAAIM/LBJUDpV9Sa4/s400/web_sd_radha-giridhari.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101561220007960818" border="0" /></a><br />Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Giridhari have always had a special place in my heart. We used to visit this temple frequently during our early bus tours, from 1995 through 1998, after which Jaya Radhe and I moved away from the West Coast and we've only been back to San Diego sporadically since.<br /><br />Dravida Prabhu gives the morning lecture. He tries to make it intersting and relevant for the youth. Towards the end of his lecture, he reads about the pastimes of Sanatan Goswami, whose disappearance day we are celebrating today. He also sings a poetic English rendition of the bhajan, "Bhaja Hu-Re Mana."<br /><br />After breakfast, we meet with the boys and girls separately and have a couple of hours of review of the bus tour... How have things been going so far? Are there any ideas for improvement? How are people doing on the personal goals they set for themselves at the beginning of the tour? Are there any other goals they'd like to set for themselves and meet by the end of the tour?<br /><br />The youth have the afternoon off for personal time, rest, relaxation. Some of them need to go shopping, and walk to the stores along Garnet Avenue one block behind the temple. In the late afternoon we round everyone up again to get ready for our evening performance.<br /><br />It takes about an hour for all of us to get ready for the performance. The dancers get changed first. Then those actors who have the most elaborate costumes get ready and wait in line for make-up. Gundica is our make-up artist par excellence. She begins the make-up on Hiranyakashipu, and then Hanuman.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstgN357oGI/AAAAAAAAAHE/Lm51TaeOwMg/s1600-h/web_sd_devotion.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstgN357oGI/AAAAAAAAAHE/Lm51TaeOwMg/s200/web_sd_devotion.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101276794388717666" border="0" /></a>The temple room begins to fill up with guests. The San Diego temple has advertised this performance on their email lists, and they've posted DEVOTION posters on the trees along Grand Avenue in front of the temple. At 6:00 p.m. evening arati <span style="font-style: italic;">kirtana</span> begins. At 6:30 we start the performance. I'm sitting in the little room behind the temple office, writing the the bus tour diary while the play performance is going on. Usually I am there to support the performers, but today I'm in a hurry to get the diary uploaded since we'll be away from Internet access for a few days.<br /><br />From where I'm sitting, I can hear the audience cheering and clapping in between the scenes. The dancers later tell me that they knew it was going to be a good performance when they heard the people in the audience sighing "Aahhhh" as the dancers threw the flower petals in the air during Pushpanjali. They said it was a very responsive audience. They laughed at the right moments, and cried during the emotional scenes. I'm glad first of all that so many people showed up to see the performance at this temple, and secondly that they were so responsive.<br /><br />Afterwards, mothers Kripamayi and Kanti came up to me and expressed their admiration for the talent and sincerity of these youth. They wondered how Jaya Radhe and I are able to take care of 50 of them all summer long. I express my concern that I would like to see more parents travel with us. We need some mothers on the girls' bus, for instance, to give emotional and physical support to 33 girls. We've always struggled to find parents who want to spend two months traveling on a bus in tight quarters with so many teenagers and young adults. We're always open to suggestions. Please contact us at bustour2007@krishna.com.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 30, Monday - Alisitos KM58 Surf Camp, Baja California, Mexico</span><br /><br />We pull into our campsite at around 1:00 a.m. The border crossing went smoothly. The Mexican customs officer at the Tijuana border asked us where we were camping, shone his flashlight into our luggage bays and then wove us through. Apparently they're more lenient if you stay within a 75-mile radius of the US border. Our campsite is south of Rosarito, about 45 minutes north of Ensenada. It's an old surf camp. There is an overhanging cliff where we park our buses, which provides us with a panoramic view of the beach below.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rstd5X57oCI/AAAAAAAAAGk/2PEObG-MsrA/s1600-h/web_kalindi_gn_dressing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rstd5X57oCI/AAAAAAAAAGk/2PEObG-MsrA/s200/web_kalindi_gn_dressing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101274243178143778" border="0" /></a>We wake everyone around 6:30 a.m. and send them to the outdoor showers. Kalindi unpacks her Gaura Nitai deities whom she has picked up in Sharanagati. They are her childhood deities. She spends a good hour dressing and decorating them. We start the morning program kirtana, sitting in a semi circle around the deities, facing the Pacific Ocean.<br /><br /><br /><br />The waves crash in a pulsating rhythm below our overhang. As the youth take turns singing the Guruvastakam prayers, my mind wanders. I observe first seagulls, then pelicans, then dolphins chasing schools of fish for breakfast. I notice that dolphins never swim alone. They always stay in small groups, keeping each other company. Perhaps out of social need, perhaps to keep strength in numbers. I am reminded how, similarly, as aspiring devotees we seek each other's association to maintain our Krishna consciousness. Life's challenges are more easily overcome in good association.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstdrH57oBI/AAAAAAAAAGc/Ae2YhDULSiA/s1600-h/web_mexico_group.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstdrH57oBI/AAAAAAAAAGc/Ae2YhDULSiA/s400/web_mexico_group.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101273998365007890" border="0" /></a><br /><br />During the day, the youth swim in the ocean. The surf is up. Omkara and Deva rent surf boards from a local establishment. Various youth take turns trying to ride the waves. Radhanatha leads a team of people who help set up the tents in between the buses, which are strategically positioned in a "V" shape, facing the ocean.<br /><br />After lunch, we are joined by His Holiness Romapada Swami, who has just arrived from the San Diego airport. He has arranged his busy schedule to spend three days with us here on the beach, in Baja California, Mexico. Romapada Swami has been serving as Executive Chairman of the North American Governing Body Commission of ISKCON for the past nine years. He is also a member of the "Succession of Leadership" committee. He is here to spend some time with the youth, and to encourage them to get more involved in ISKCON leadership.<br /><br />Throughout the afternoon, Romapada Swami meets with several of us in one of the tents, to get a sense of our interest in and commitment to becoming more involved in the missionary work of ISKCON.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rste3357oEI/AAAAAAAAAG0/w52O_J-uisA/s1600-h/web_mex_gn_kalindi.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rste3357oEI/AAAAAAAAAG0/w52O_J-uisA/s200/web_mex_gn_kalindi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101275316919967810" border="0" /></a>As the sun begins to set over the ocean, we begin a spiritual evening program with Kalindi's and our bus tour Gaura Nitai deities. The two sets of deities glisten in the setting sun. Kalindi's are white marble-looking resin. The bus tour Gaura Nitai are polished brass. Romapada Swami leads an initial discussion about the importance of our generation of youth taking on responsibiliy in the preaching mission of ISKCON. He explains that he himself has maybe ten years left to give, after which he'll be looking to retire. He laments that there are so few young people at the Temple Presidents' and GBC<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstfJn57oFI/AAAAAAAAAG8/aGi-CGPv8RM/s1600-h/web_mex_gaura_nitai.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstfJn57oFI/AAAAAAAAAG8/aGi-CGPv8RM/s200/web_mex_gaura_nitai.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101275621862645842" border="0" /></a> meetings. He states his desire to dedicate himself to succession planning to see that ISKCON has a bright future. He would like to see the youth take over ISKCON.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 31, Tuesday, Campo Alisitos, Baja California, Mexico.</span><br /><br />We hold a relaxed morning program with H.H. Romapada Swami. This morning's discussion is focused on obstacles that prevent youth from getting more involved in ISKCON. Dedication. Time. Money. School. Job Security. Feeling inadequate. Requiring specific leadership training. The list grows as Priya writes the headings on poster board paper and hangs the full sheets onto the side of our yellow bus. Premanjana manages the list of people who have their hands raised, who are eager to contribute to the discussion. "First Hari, then Uddhi, then Deva, then Lakshmi..." We take turns contributing to the list of obstacles that prevent us from getting more involved in ISKCON leadership and in the preaching mission.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstenH57oDI/AAAAAAAAAGs/uezNWlZqyTY/s1600-h/web_romapada_group.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RstenH57oDI/AAAAAAAAAGs/uezNWlZqyTY/s400/web_romapada_group.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101275029157158962" border="0" /></a><br /><br />During the day, the youth again surf the waves, swim, and relax after four weeks of non-stop traveling. These three days on the beach in Mexico serve as a short retreat to rejuvenate our bodies, to catch up on some rest and relaxation. There's work to be done, nontheless. Breakfast prep crew. Breakfast clean-up crew. Lunch prep. Lunch clean-up. Dinner prep. Dinner clean-up. Six teams are needed throughout the day to manage the essentials. The boys cook lunch. It's Mexican burritos with beans, salsa and hibiscus "tang" drink.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsthF357oHI/AAAAAAAAAHM/MNw7AuFa_JU/s1600-h/web_quesadillas.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsthF357oHI/AAAAAAAAAHM/MNw7AuFa_JU/s400/web_quesadillas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101277756461391986" border="0" /></a><br />Dinner is campfire baked potatoes. We end the evening with a game of Krishna conscious charades.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 1, Wednesday, Campo Alisitos, Baja California, Mexico.</span><br /><br />After the morning program kirtana, we continue our succession of leadership discussion. Today we're tackling solutions to the obstacles we listed yesterday. What would it take to get us more committed, to dedicate some time, to get training so we would feel more qualified to take on the challenge of the missionary work of ISKCON? The youth offer suggestions. We split up into small groups and tackle three or four of the "obstacles" each. We re-convene after half an hour and present our solutions to the whole group.<br /><br />We even have a "loyal opposition" who have gotten together and decided that this whole discussion is a bad idea. That what the youth really need is help with education, college grants, and business loans to become successful materially... so that they can contribute financially to the temples and maybe later on in life, when they have life experience, they can consider getting involved in ISKCON management and leadership. Fair enough. We value their constructive input.<br /><br />Overall, more than three quarters of the group are enthusiastic to at least pursue the theory of getting more involved in ISKCON's missionary work. That short-term commitments of six months, one year, or two years are more realistic goals to strive for. That ISKCON should set up systems like the Mormons have, where you contribute two years of missionary work when you're 18, and then the Mormon church pays for your college education, you are guaranteed employment in any Mormon business, and other benefits.<br /><br />Premanjana, Haridas, and Priya have assembled a team of inspired youth who are considering taking on the challenge of managing the St. Louis ISKCON temple, turning it into a youth-run preaching mission. Romapada Swami is the GBC for that temple, and the current temple president, Pancha-Tattva Prabhu, is welcoming the youth to get involved in a serious way. I am inspired to see the flame of enthusiasm lit within these youth, to see them so inspired to take on the challenge of running the St. Louis temple.<br /><br />The rest of the day continues much like the previous two. Swimming. Surfing. Lunch and dinner prep and clean-up. With the exception, perhaps, that pockets of youth are talking about what they thought of the leadership discussions so far. Premanjana, Hari and Priya are meeting in one of the tents, strategizing. Who, from among the youth who are serious to try and get more involved, should they pick to help them run the St. Louis temple?<br /><br />Dinner is Mexican quesadillas, flour tortillas (chapatis) folded in half with grated cheese baked in the middle, with a dip of freshly made guacamole (avocados, spices and sour cream). Sarasvati from Chicago and other youth spend a good two hours pan-frying the quesadillas. Radhanatha and Premanjana keep the campfire well stocked with wood. Kalindi and Kumari lead blissful Hare Krishna mantra melodies during the evening bhajans around the campfire.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 2, Thursday, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.</span><br /><br />Today we wrap up the succession planning discussion with a straw vote of hands of who might be interested to get more seriously involved in ISKCON's missionary work within the next two years. About three quarters of the group's hands go up. We write down the names. Then we switch gears to a general discussion about how leadership works in ISKCON. What is the role of the GBC? What are their meetings like? Did everyone know that there are Spiritual Strategic Planning Team meetings twice a year in North America, where devotees meet to improve ISKCON in strategic ways? "Welcome Mat" where we address how to welcome guests to a temple. "Youth Programs" for all ages. "Financial Solvency" to help temples maintain a positive cashflow. There are 50 "A" list priority initiatives, another 50 on the B list, and many more on the C list. That we need youth to get involved on the grass-roots level to improve ISKCON in all of these initiatives.<br /><br />Several youth get excited about the possibilties they see to contribute positively towards the growth and improvement of ISKCON via the SSPT initiative process. I pledge that I will try to find funding to get those youth to attend the upcoming SSPT initiative meetings, to facilitate their becoming more involved.<br /><br />After breakfast, we take down camp. The tents are cleaned, unpegged, disassembled, and rolled up. The buses are cleaned. "Maha clean-up" as we call it. (Maha means "big" in Sanskrit.) Romapada Swami leaves us at this time, to return to Los Angeles for succession of leadership meetings with senior devotees, to report back his findings.<br /><br />We serve lunch at the campsite, and then head south to the tourist town of Ensenada. We plan to do a Harinama and let the youth go shopping, for gifts and souvenirs from Mexico. By the time we actually get to Ensenada, it is already 4:30 p.m. and the shops will be closing soon. So we let the youth go shopping in devotee clothes and forego the Harinama. That night we head north and cross the border back into the United States.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August 3, Friday, Los Angeles ISKCON temple.</span><br /><br />The buses pull into parking spaces along Venice Boulevard at around 3:00 a.m. A handful of us get up and go to the ashram showers at our Los Angeles ISKCON temple here on Watseka Avenue. Today is "gurukuli day" - the one day of the year set aside for the youth to lead the entire morning program. I get to the temple room with wet tilak just as the altar doors are opening, at 4:30 a.m.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxjS357oQI/AAAAAAAAAIU/48cEuhCWMy4/s1600-h/web_la_rukmini-dvarakadhish.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxjS357oQI/AAAAAAAAAIU/48cEuhCWMy4/s400/web_la_rukmini-dvarakadhish.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101561653799657730" border="0" /></a><br /><br />"Jaya Sri Sri Gaura Nitai!" - "Jaya Sri Sri Rukmini Dvarakadhisha!" - "Jaya Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra!"<br /><br />Madan Mohan, Prithu Prabhu's son, leads mangala arati. Kuva leads Narasimhadeva prayers. Dakshina leads Tulasi arati. Amal (from our bus tour) leads guru puja. Shraddha leads Jagannathastakam. I don't stay for class as I take the bus tour boys with me, in the boys' bus, to Venice Beach, to help Madhuha Prabhu finish the set-up for the Ratha-yatra "Festival of Chariots." About half of the girls join us, as they've never done "set-up" before and are willing to try.<br /><br />A team of about 15 girls stay at the L.A. temple and help string garlands of marigolds to decorate the chariots, while the rest of us drive to Venice Beach, park the buses on the festival site, and get ready to help finish the set-up of this mega massive festival. Los Angeles Ratha-yatra requires the largest set-up of tents of any Ratha-yatra in North America. We use all of Madhuha Prabhu's "Festival of India" tents and exhibits, plus about 30 more of Los Angeles ISKCON's (Ratnabhusana Prabhu's) tents and exhibits. L.A. have their own large main stage with tall tent over the top, and dozens of food booths serving smoothies, curd steaks, pizza, watermelon, a gift shop, a children's tent with its own stage, a music stage for bands to perform, etc. etc. etc. We finish set-up by about 1:45 p.m., and wait for the temple to deliver lunch to the site. It is getting quite hot out here on Venice Beach, an ocean-front suburb of Los Angeles, and host to the Ratha-yatra Festival of Chariots for the past 35 years. We take shelter in the shade under one of the tents.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxifX57oOI/AAAAAAAAAIE/lNt6prjiRi4/s1600-h/web_la_setup.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxifX57oOI/AAAAAAAAAIE/lNt6prjiRi4/s200/web_la_setup.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101560769036394722" border="0" /></a>Finally, lunch arrives. The cooks at the Los Angeles ISKCON temple have outdone themselves. It's a ten-course feast. Two subjis, lasagna, rice, dahl, salad, fruit salad, banana bread, lemonade... we eagerly devour the feast. Everyone is hungry and thirsty after a long morning of physical labor, setting up the festival. I look around the festival site and feel a sense of accomplishment, that we helped set up this festival so thousands of people this weekend can have a good time in Krishna consciousness.<br /><br />After lunch, we drive the buses back to the L.A. temple and the youth proceed to wash their laundry at the laundromat behind the temple. We don't have much time. Three hours before the evening program starts at the temple, and we are supposed to perform DEVOTION in the L.A. temple room, right after evening arati. We rush to get our laundry washed and dried, and then get ready for the performance.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxkSX57oTI/AAAAAAAAAIs/Ud4bwdXn608/s1600-h/web_la_temple.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxkSX57oTI/AAAAAAAAAIs/Ud4bwdXn608/s200/web_la_temple.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101562744721350962" border="0" /></a>Temple room performances have their challenges. There is no stage. Any action that happens low to the ground is hidden from the view of people sitting on the floor behind the first row, basically anyone from the third row onwards. The Laksmi-Narayana dance scene, where Narayana reclines on the floor against Sesha naga, causes people to rise to their knees to see the action. Everyone is trying to poke their heads over everyone else's shoulders to see what is going on. The speakers of the temple sound system are positioned in the four corners of the temple room, causing echo and feedback problems for performers. Halfway through, we decide to switch to our own bus tour Yamaha three-way speakers. Haridas brings in the speakers and we switch seamlessly in between scene changes. Ahhhh... much better. We can hear the voices of the performers clearly now. The $4,000 in wireless microphones we invested in at the beginning of the tour is once again saving our performance (By the way, I still need your help to sponsor these microphones. They were not in our original budget for the tour and are still sitting on my credit card bill. Any help is kindly appreciated. You can make your donations out to youth@krishna.com via PayPal, or send check or money order in US funds to ISKCON Youth Ministry, PO Box 283, Alachua, FL 32616, USA.)<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxkIH57oSI/AAAAAAAAAIk/zrmeMOWx2Ck/s1600-h/web_la_actors.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/RsxkIH57oSI/AAAAAAAAAIk/zrmeMOWx2Ck/s400/web_la_actors.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101562568627691810" border="0" /></a><br />Overall, the show goes well. The Los Angeles devotees (about 300 of them crowd the temple room between the ground floor and balcony) applaud with a standing ovation. Naikatma Prabhu, who serves as temple president for ISKCON Denver, watched the performance and pleads with us to visit Denver and perform there when the bus tour passes through, after Vancouver Ratha-yatra. He asks if we can come for Janmashtami, but we explain that the youth are back in school by that time and that the bus tour is over the day before school (college) starts.<br /><br />We end the day by driving the buses to the quiet surroundings of Venice Beach, parking on the festival site to spend the night. The youth fall asleep on their respective bus bunk beds. We prop open the windows of the buses to let the cool ocean breeze blow through.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164690330723510339.post-12846707510803037522007-07-29T21:14:00.000-07:002007-07-29T22:48:41.275-07:00Winnipeg to Calgary<span style="font-weight: bold;">July 19, Thursday - Winnipeg, Manitoba</span><br /><br />Today is our second day in Winnipeg. We had planned this day as a day of "rest and relaxation" (R&R), while the buses would go to a mechanic to get some maintenance. So we asked our host, Mother Vrinda, for suggestions on the best park to drop everyone off at, with bathroom facilities and large open spaces to play sports. We decided on Assiniboine Park. The yellow greyhound bus went in for maintenance on the jake brake (engine retarder) that helps brake the bus on long downhill grades. The boys' school bus (Garuda 3) dropped everyone off at the park, where most of the youth played "ultimate frisbee," which is basically like playing American Football with a frisbee.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rq15J-3LoyI/AAAAAAAAAFM/-C-fEDVI9fU/s1600-h/web_winnipeg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rq15J-3LoyI/AAAAAAAAAFM/-C-fEDVI9fU/s400/web_winnipeg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092859966026130210" border="0" /></a><br />Around 5 p.m., after trying several mechanics, news that the big yellow bus could not be repaired in Winnipeg because the mechanics thought it might take them all weekend to tweak with the jake brakes. So we called ahead and reserved an appointment with some mechanics in Regina (the next city we were heading to after Winnipeg.) Jaya Radhe made sandwiches for everyone for dinner, with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, cheese, and some seet sandwiches with peanut butter and jam / jelly.<br /><br />In the evening, two young Sikh gentlemen found us at the park and talked to us about doing some bhajans. They were very enthusiastic. We told them that we'd be happy to, and they then went home to get their drums and harmonium. When they returned, Bhaktimarga Swami and the bhajaneers on our tour engaged in an enthusiastic Hare Krishna bhajan in the park, with the two Sikh gentlemen playing harmonium and tablas respectively. Afterwards, they thanked us profusely and explained to us that they had little opportunity in Winniepeg to do bhajans like this, with so many young people, and that they had an awesome time. We exchanged contact information.<br /><br />As we were about to leave, I noticed that the girls' bus septic tank had not been emptied in a while. So decided to empty it myself, into the park toilets. (We have a portable septic tank on each bus that can be rolled to a "dump station" or toilet to be emptied.) As I was about to disconnect the tank I noticed a small leak in one of the hoses. It seemed like the sewage hoses were under pressure. One problem led to another, and the short story is that soon I found myself covered in raw sewage, trying to unclog the bus septic system that was clogged with toilet paper. The sun was setting. The park was closing and we were under time constraints to pack the bus and get out before the gates closed. The Canadian mosquitoes were coming out and nibbling at me from all sides. And here I was, covered in sewage, trying to serve the Vaishnavis by repairing their septic tank. Jai. Haribol. Realizations about the gross-ness of material bodies came to mind. I told some of the boys who were helping me, "this is great service to get rid of your material desires. You'll never look at material bodies the same way again."<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 20, Friday - Regina, Saskatchewan</span><br /><br />We drove through the night and arrived in Regina, Saskatchewan, by 5:30 a.m. We parked at a Husky truck stop, filled our bus shower water tanks, and woke up the youth in shifts to take turns in the on-board bus showers. We had spent lots of time and money prior to the bus tour to put in these showers, and today was another opportunity to use them. I asked our bus counselors to continue waking up the youth and getting them ready, and decided to walk to the Regina temple with Bhaktimarga Swami and Rasikananda Prabhu.<br /><br />Bhaktimarga Swami has been traveling with us for a couple of weeks. He is the Swami who walks across Canada. He's on his third walk and has interrupted it to join our Canadian section of the festival bus tour. Needless to say, sometimes Bhaktimarga Swami feels a bit cramped on our bus and just feels the urge to take a long japa walk and let the buses catch up with him. Especially here in Canada where the "Trans Canada Highway" (TCH) is just one long road across the continent. So Rasikananda and I join him for a japa walk about 5 kilometers to the Regina temple.<br /><br />We walk on the edge of the road that slants towards the ditch. I ask Maharaja how he deals with walking at an angle for long distances. He acknowledges that it is a problem for his posture and explains that he switches sides from time to time, so he will walk on the right shoulder of the highway, then switch to the left shoulder, back and forth a few times during the day. We chant some Maha-mantra japa (the holy names of Krishna) on our beads, our morning meditation. At some point, we come into the downtown and past a beautiful park that Maharaja says would be an excellent location for Harinama (kirtana) and for festivals.<br /><br />The conversation turns to how to spread Krishna consciousness throughout Canada. That there are so few cities along this highway. That if we had vibrant, youth-led temples, so many people could benefit from our kirtana and prasadam distribution. Bhaktimarga Swami expresses concern about the old age of the current generation of devotees that lead these temples. Jagannatha Prabhu, the Regina temple president, is in his mid 60s, retired, and some of his children have moved away to more popular cities across the world. How can we inspire our younger generation to take up the missionary work of spreading Krishna consciousness? How can we inspire them to spend time in a place like Regina and develop the university preaching here? We talk about how it takes people of character to live in a place like this which gets extremely cold in the winter (for about 6 months of the year), but is quite pleasant in the summer.<br /><br />Once all the youth arrive at our ISKCON Regina temple, we serve them breakfast, and then send them to laundromats. Today is laundry day, our weekly opportunity to wash dirty clothes and re-organize our bags. The girls walk to one laundromat, about 7 blocks away. The boys walk to another. Once again, the buses go in for maintenance at the local bus mechanics. Hopefully this time around, the mechanics can repair our jake brake (on the big yellow bus), and the transmission issue on the boys' bus (the school bus, Garuda 3).<br /><br />While the youth are at the laundromats, the local matriarch, Mother Chintamani, prepares lunch for us in the temple kitchen. Her husband, the temple president, Jagannath Prabhu, meets with me about the details for this evening's hall performance. He is about to be interviewed by the local television news station about the performance. He leaves for his interview. I catch a few minutes of peace and quiet and honor a belated granola breakfast in the back yard. Finally a moment of quiet. I'm all by myself. A rare occasion on the festival tour.<br /><br />Soon, the youth return from the laundromats and it is time for lunch. They are excited. There were televisions at the laundromat, and all of a sudden, while they were washing their laundry, the news came on and Jagannatha Prabhu was being interviewed. He told viewers that we were an international group of students who traveled across North America to perform Krishna Culture Festivals. That our performers came from places as far away as Venezuela, Poland, Australia, the Philippines, etc. That it would be a delightful cultural presentation with dance, drama, and live music. That everyone should come and that there were only a few tickets left.<br /><br />After lunch, Bhaktimarga Swami engages us in a thorough run-through of the drama portions of our performance. He works with several of the actors to perfect their moods and expressions during certain scenes. He helps re-write the dialogue of the Jagannath scene to make it flow more naturally and give it more emotional appeal.<br /><br />Around 4:30 p.m., we get ready to board our buses to head off to our upcoming hall performance, at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum Auditorium in downtown Regina. We get to the auditorium around 5:00 p.m., unload the props, costumes, lighting and sound equipment. While the actors and dancers and musicians get ready, Markendeya (lights) and Nitai Prana (sound) and I meet with the venue's sound and lighting technicians to go over the technical equipment needed for tonight's performance. They supply us with six wired microphones. We will use our own wireless headset mics. We set up our own spotlight to give more definition to the actor's faces during the performance.<br /><br />The Royal Saskatchewan Museum Auditorium seats around 250 people. At around 6:30 p.m., the place starts to fill up. At this venue we are getting a lot of Indian families. Expats who have settled in the Regina area. Jagannatha Prabhu seems to have advertised to the congregation and they seem to have brought their friends. The show starts promptly at 7:00 p.m. Everything goes well during the first half, up until the intermission. I go upstairs to the enclosed technical booth at the back of the auditorium to congratulate the sound and lighting engineers on the good job they've been doing.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rq13KO3LoxI/AAAAAAAAAFE/skt7codIjsk/s1600-h/web_regina_hall.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rq13KO3LoxI/AAAAAAAAAFE/skt7codIjsk/s400/web_regina_hall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092857771297841938" border="0" /></a><br />During the second half of our performance, however, things take a turn for the worse. The wireless headset mics are feeding back. Nitai is struggling with the gain levels. As the actors walk along the stage, they're hitting "hot spots" that cause instant feedback. During the critical Queen Kunti scene, when all four headset mics are being used at once by the actors, the sound disintegrates to a distorted rumble mixed with feedback squeals. Somehow we make our way through the second half of the performance alive. The forgiving audience gives us a standing ovation, an "A" for effort. I inquire as to why we had so many sound problems during the second half, and am told that apparently the wireless mics had reset themselves to frequencies that conflicted with one another. Live and learn.<br /><br />As people exit the auditorium, they pass our book table. Some stop to look, and a few people buy some books. Our enthusiastic book distributing brahmachari, Yamuna Jivana Prabhu, strikes up a conversation with the curious onlookers standing around the book table to get their interest. I position myself with a video camera near the exit door to ask a few people to give us some video testimonials on how they liked our performance. Varshana Prabhu, one of our bus drivers, finds her way over to where I am standing. I ask her to help me ask people. She approaches a middle-aged couple, both caucasian (white) looking. She prods to find out what they thought about the content being all about devotional service to Krishna. The husband says that he is from Australia, and that the only reason he came tonight was because one of his friends is into Indian culture and brought him along to see our performance. That usually, this would not be his kind of thing. But, he adds, he enjoyed himself thoroughly. Although he is a skeptic when it comes to religion, he could see the love that these youth had put into this production. He enjoyed the music, the colors, the dancing. He mentions had never seen anything like this before.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 21, Saturday - Calgary, Alberta - Ratha-yatra</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rq17c-3LozI/AAAAAAAAAFU/EQ8ETuptTRw/s1600-h/web_calgary_rath.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rq17c-3LozI/AAAAAAAAAFU/EQ8ETuptTRw/s320/web_calgary_rath.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092862491466900274" border="0" /></a>We arrive in Calgary around 7:00 a.m. The two buses pull up at the Talisman Sports Center in downtown. Chaitanya Hari Prabhu, the local youth who helps coordinate the Ratha-yatra festival in this city, meets us in his car. He is paying for us to take nice, hot showers at this sports center. After showing the youth where to go for showers, I head to the back of the big yellow bus where we have a full kitchen set up... with commercial stove, oven, sink, etc. Today's breakfast is oatmeal. I fill one of our 6-gallon stainless steel pots half full with water, bring it to the boil, stir in about one kilo of powdered milk, add a pound of butter, a couple handfulls of salt, a handful of sugar, and then add about 2.5 kilos of rolled quick oats. I ponder the sticky substance, watching it get thicker and thicker as I stir away. The youth are going to be thirsty. We need some lemonade. Quickly I look for some concentrated lemon juice, a bucket, and begin filling it with water from our water filter on the bus' kitchen sink. A half a packet of sugar, some stirring with a large whisk.... and the lemonade is ready. I offer the breakfast... and just I finish offering, the first youth are coming back from the showers. We serve the breakfast next to the buses, in the parking lot.<br /><br />Calgary Ratha-yatra parade is following a different route this year. We are pulling Lord Jagannatha down the main shopping street, 8th Avenue, which is a pedestrian zone for about five blocks, and then turns into a normal avenue all the way to Millennium Park, where the Festival of India is set up. Our traveling festival tour youth have been asked to lead the kirtana (chanting) procession in front of Lord Jagannatha's chariot. The dancers take up position in front of the kirtana party. The chanters begin to lead an up-beat maha-mantra melody. The dancers swing their bodies back and forth in coordinated steps. Slowly, the auspicious procession moves down 8th Avenue, amidst chain store windows and gawking onlookers...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rq10qO3LowI/AAAAAAAAAE8/1EKZ3n8IN30/s1600-h/web_calgary43.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rq10qO3LowI/AAAAAAAAAE8/1EKZ3n8IN30/s400/web_calgary43.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092855022518772482" border="0" /></a><br />Calgary is known for its annual rodeo and stampede, and for being the beef capital of Canada. Today Lord Jagannatha is bestowing His sidelong glances on the people of Calgary, bestowing His special mercy. About 300 people are in the procession, pulling the ropes that are attached to Lord Jagannatha's chariot. They call out the Holy Names in call-and-response. The bus tour youth switch kirtana leaders several times, each chanting for about ten minutes. Jahnavi, Amal, Kumari, Kalindi and Rasikananda each lead a portion of the parade kirtana.<br /><br />Back at the festival site, the "Free Feast" volunteers get ready to receive the crowd. You can hear the parade kirtana approaching in the distance. The organizers bring a local talent on stage to entertain the people who are starting to arrive. I am informed that we are running about a half hour late. By now, the parade is here and most people are lining up for the free feast. I walk around the festival site to gather our performers and ask them to get ready. I find a group of them behind one of the exhibits, in the shade, gobbling down some free food.<br /><br />We perform the dance drama... DEVOTION. It's a little difficult to use our spotlight in the outdoors, in the middle of the hot afternoon. Markendeya tries his best to light up some of the cast member's faces with our 650-watt ARRI spotlight. (Some of the festival stage set-ups are definitely in need of improvement in regards to lighting.) The performance goes well.<br /><br />That evening we take down the festival in about one and a half hours. Afterwards, we head to the Calgary temple, obtain darshan of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, and celebrate Jaya Radhe's birthday (my wife, one of the tour organizers) with ice cream cake. We take rest on the bus bunk beds at around 10:30 p.m. At around 3:00 a.m. the bus drivers wake up and start driving the buses to our next destination.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164690330723510339.post-31833236792429844032007-07-18T21:57:00.000-07:002007-09-08T21:33:33.591-07:00Tour Diary, First Installment, June 24 - July 18<div id="DEVOTION POSTER"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-MbtHxUZI/AAAAAAAAADM/tmE1g7_GgzI/s1600-h/web_devotion_poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-MbtHxUZI/AAAAAAAAADM/tmE1g7_GgzI/s320/web_devotion_poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088940511548494226" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">June 25 - 29, Atlanta, Georgia - ISKCON Atlanta</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Temple</span><br /><br />We started the 2007 summer festival tour with intensive performance rehearsals at the Atlanta temple. For one week, 45 youth from around the world spent the first days of the tour absorbed in auditioning for the various roles in the play, dance and live music band. Mother Anapayini and Balarama Chandra Prabhu are directing the performance this year. They are both experienced and talented actors and we are fortunate to have them on the tour.<br /><br />This year's performance is a dance drama with live music called DEVOTION. We start the show with an introductory dance and narration that establishes that everything we do in our Krishna culture is an expression of devotion to Krishna. The dancers begin with Pushpanjali dance, followed by mudras that introduce the nine processes of devotional service to Krishna.<br /><br />Scene 1 (Hearing - Shravanam) depicts the meeting of Maharaja Pariksit and Shukadeva Goswami. Pariksit inquires about the best course of action for a person about to die. Shukadeva Goswami begins to tell Pariksit about the nine processes of devotional service to Krishna.<br />Interlude: Anapayini acts out mudras over the narration that introduces the next scene.<br /><br />Scene 2 - (Remembering - Smaranam) depicts how Lord Narasimhadeva defeats Hiranyakshipu and protects Prahlad. We have Mohini from Australia acting as Hiranyakashipu. She (yes, she) blew us away during auditions as having the best stage presence and really giving life to the demon king. And since we have 30 young ladies and only 17 young men on the tour this year, some of the ladies are playing men roles. So far it is working out nicely.<br /><br />Scene 3 - (Serving the Lotus Feet - Pada Sevanam) depicts Lord Narayana and Lakshmi, who is constantly engaged in serving the lotus feet of the Lord. This scene is performed by the dancers, with mixture of Bharatanatyam elements, mudras, and dramatic expression. Lord Vishnu reclines on His bed of Ananta Shesha, comprised of dancers acting as serpent heads... There is live music of violin, flute, harmonium, dolak and mridanga, and kartals tastefully arranged to accompany the performance.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-ORNHxUdI/AAAAAAAAADs/Kv1BzkISYKQ/s1600-h/web_girls.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-ORNHxUdI/AAAAAAAAADs/Kv1BzkISYKQ/s320/web_girls.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088942530183123410" border="0" /></a>We decided to use only live music this year to give the performance a boost in class and quality, just like watching a broadway performance with live orchestra. Jahnavi from England (Kripamoya's daughter) plays the violin, Uddhava from Montreal plays the flute, Jaya from Alachua plays the harmonium and sings, Balarama Chandra plays the dolak, Amala Purana (Apurva and Kamalini's son) plays the mridanga, and Anapayini and her sister Komala Kumari sing and play the kartals.<br /><br />Scene 4 - (Worshiping the Deity - Archanam) depicts the story behind India's oldest festival, Jagannatha Rathayatra. As you will have noticed, these scenes are mini stories in and of themselves and the narration helps to set the scene and establish time, place and circumstance in a way that uninitiated audiences can try to understand. So in this scene, the narration tells the history of India's oldest festival, about King Indradyumna and his quest to see the Lord face to face, which eventually leads to the carving of the Jagannatha Deity. The actors depict how Indradyumna has the Deities carved, of Jagannatha (Krishna), Baladeva, and Subhadra, and Krishna speaks to Indradyumna (voice from the sky) towards the end of the scene to inform him about the special nature of His appearance as Lord Jagannatha.<br /><br />Scene 5 - (Dasyam - Servitude) depicts Hanuman as the messenger of Rama, who finds Sita and restores her hope that Rama is coming to her rescue. Hanuman is played by a very enthusastic young lady from Hawaii named Sundari. During auditions she was the natural choice for Hanuman and played him very convincingly and with a charm that was irresistible.<br /><br />Scene 6 - (Sakhyam - Friendship) depicts Krishna instructing Arjuna on the battlefield. Arjuna approaches Krishna as his dearmost friend and asks for advice. Krishna instructs Arjuna about the imperishable nature of the soul, and to do his duty.<br /><br />Scene 7 - (Offering Prayers - Vandanam) depicts Queen Kunti mourning the loss of Karna, surrounded by the Pandavas and Krishna. She recounts the various clamities that happened to them, and offers beautiful prayers to Lord Krishna. The scene emotionally draws in the viewers as we discover that Karna was her first-born son. By the end of this scene it is hard for people to contain their tears.<br /><br />Scene 8 - (Complete Surrender - Atma-nivedanam) depicts Bali Maharaja surrendering to Vamanadeva. Bali is played by Balaram Poddar, Radha Jivan Prabhu's son, in a very regal and classy manner. Vamanadeva is expertly portrayed by Komala Kumari. Ganga Prabhu does a good job at portraying the skeptical Shukracharya, with a long matted red haired wig....<br /><br />Scene 9 - (Chanting - Kirtanam) depicts a short mridanga presentation (Manipuri style) followed by Lord Chaitanya and Nityananda appearing on the scene with a kirtana party and dancers. Lord Chaitanya and Nityananda explain the significance of chanting the Holy Names and begin a melodious, choreographed stage kirtana.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">June 30, Saturday - Prabhupada Village, North Carolina </span><br /><br />Our first performance in Prabhupada Village in front of a test audience of senior devotees and some guests was well received. One senior Prabhupada disciple approached me and said he was very, very upset. I responded, "Oh no, what have we done to offend you?" And then he told me that he was upset because he was crying the entire duration of the play and his tears were getting in the way of being able to watch the performance. Naturally we take these comments with a grain of salt. Devotees are trying to praise us and make us feel good. But it shows that the many hours of rehearsals have paid off... that people's emotional strings are being pulled by this performance and they feel moved after watching it. A couple of guests new to Krishna consciousness approached us and mentioned that they were completely amazed. And we're, like - great! That is what we wanted to achieve. Amaze people with the amazing colors, music, dance, and Krishna culture stories from the Bhagavatam.<br /><br />We have several important hall / auditorium programs booked for this summer and so performance rehearsals intensify as we try to make the presentation better and better. We are trying to put on mini Krishna Culture Festivals at hall programs in between the Ratha-yatra weekends. In Toronto, for example, devotees have booked a prestigious 500-seat theater for us, where people are coming to see us and are paying $62 per seat (for front and center), and $42 for other seats. There is an orchestra pit and everything. We are also scheduled to be performing in auditoriums at Lakehurst University in Thunder Bay, Royal Saskatchewan Auditorium in Regina, Ashcroft Opera House, Boise State University Auditorium, Ferst Theatre for Arts at Georgia Tech University, and two back-to-back performances at theaters in Miami.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 1, Sunday - Prabhupada Village, North Carolina</span><br /><br />After some deliberation, we decided to cut our upcoming camping trip short and spend an extra day in Prabhupada Village, where Dravinaksa and I have electricity to continue making last minute fixes to the bathrooms on the buses. Shower water lines are being hooked up, PVC pipes are being glued, sinks are being installed, etc. A local devotee plumber named Ranchor helps us.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-PBNHxUeI/AAAAAAAAAD0/Uk9yrUcV-NY/s1600-h/web_cobb_mixing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-PBNHxUeI/AAAAAAAAAD0/Uk9yrUcV-NY/s320/web_cobb_mixing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088943354816844258" border="0" /></a>After breakfast, a devotee couple, Chitra and her husband Mathura along with their 2-year old son, Devavrata, invite us to participate in a hands-on seminar on how to help build their house out of cobb - a mixture of straw, clay, and sand. Happily we accept this unusual invitation and send the boys down the hill to dig in the cobb mixture and pound it with their feet, and apply it to the foundation of their house. The girls go swimming to the local pond. Halfway through the day, we switch. The boys go swimming and the girls help build the cobb house. Later that day we participate in the Sunday feast program.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 2-3, Monday - Tuesday, Shenandoah </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">National Park, Virginia</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-PntHxUfI/AAAAAAAAAD8/SrvAIH1Juv8/s1600-h/web_campfire_bhajans.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-PntHxUfI/AAAAAAAAAD8/SrvAIH1Juv8/s320/web_campfire_bhajans.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088944016241807858" border="0" /></a>We camp for two days at Shenandoah National Park to give the youth some time to relax and rest. We go on a couple of hikes to waterfalls, spend some time around the campfire in the evening singing bhajans and eating campfire baked potatoes. Tuesday night we drive to Washington DC.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 4, Wednesday, Washington D.C. Ratha-yatra and Independence Day Parade</span><br /><br />Washington DC Ratha-yatra is our first for this summer's tour. So the youth are introduced to the various services they will perform at the festivals. In rotation, teams of youth staff the Free Feast tent, the Questions and Answers tent, the book tables, and the Prasadam-for-sale tent. Our youth provide the bulk of the entertainment for the Ratha-yatra festival, and, as it turns out, the bulk of devotee presence at the festival. Except for a brief dance performance by Vrinda, and some filler music by Sankarshan Prabhu with his keyboard, our bus tour youth led Kirtanas at the beginning and end of the festival on the main stage, and peformed DEVOTION during prime time in the middle of the afternoon.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-QCtHxUgI/AAAAAAAAAEE/R6k_LzfldNU/s1600-h/web_booktable.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-QCtHxUgI/AAAAAAAAAEE/R6k_LzfldNU/s320/web_booktable.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088944480098275842" border="0" /></a>The microphone situation didn't work out so well in DC at our first open-air performance. The wireless microphones we had just bought for $2,000 dollars were equipped with clip-on lapel mics, that were not close enough to the actors' mouths and caused feedback and picked up a lot of wind. Made note to self to stop by B&H (music store) in NYC and inquire as to solutions to this.<br /><br />At about 5:00 p.m., a severe thunderstorm rolled in and the police asked the crowds to take shelter in the nearby museums. The boys stayed behind with Madhuha Prabhu to protect the festival tents, exhibits, stage and sound equipment. As the storm intensifies, we hurriedly take down the exhibits and stack them flat on top of each other, and climb up the tents and take down the various banners that are acting like sails, catching the wind. Then we gather under the main tent and have Maha-mantra Kirtana while Indra and his rain clouds put on a grand performance, washing away the sins of the capital city of the US. (We are set up right in front of the US Capitol building - quite an amazing location for Lord Jagannatha's Ratha-yatra festival.)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 5, Thursday, New York City (ISKCON 26 2nd Ave and ISKCON Brooklyn)</span><br /><br />This morning we arrive in New York City with our bright yellow greyhound bus, and the orange school bus, dubbed Garuda 2 and Garuda 3 respectively. We take our showers at ISKCON Brooklyn temple. After taking darshan of Sri Sri Radha-Govinda, we hurry across the Manhattan bridge to 26 2nd Avenue, where H.H. Radhanatha Swami and H.H. Jayadvaita Swami join us for a late morning program, kirtana, and discussion.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-SbNHxUiI/AAAAAAAAAEU/k03A7mi3A0Y/s1600-h/web_26_2nd_Ave.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-SbNHxUiI/AAAAAAAAAEU/k03A7mi3A0Y/s400/web_26_2nd_Ave.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088947100028326434" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-RdNHxUhI/AAAAAAAAAEM/7M1wNusq_Vw/s1600-h/web_26_2nd_Ave_group.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-RdNHxUhI/AAAAAAAAAEM/7M1wNusq_Vw/s400/web_26_2nd_Ave_group.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088946034876437010" border="0" /></a><br />Afterwards we head on a blissful Harinama to Tompkins Square Park, where Jayadvaita Swami shares significance of this holy tirtha where everything began. This is the spot where Srila Prabhupada would come and sit under a tree, play a bongo drum, and hold kirtana in the early days of the movement in the West.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-USdHxUjI/AAAAAAAAAEc/hXelf6oHrFE/s1600-h/web_prabhupada_tree.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-USdHxUjI/AAAAAAAAAEc/hXelf6oHrFE/s400/web_prabhupada_tree.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088949148727726642" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In the afternoon, the youth break up into teams with chaperones and go sight-seeing and shopping around NYC. I personally took the subway to B&H Photo Video, the big electronics superstore, to figure out the micorphone situation and get some sort of headworn, skin-color microphones that would work better for outdoor performances. After several hours of consultation and sorting through the best of what is available, I walk out with four head-worn over-the-ear microphones that professional performers use in outdoor situations, as well as with one stage spotlight / flood light, that will serve to illuminate the performance a little bit, and give it some brightness, some sparkle. The total for our wireless stage microphones thus far adds up to $4,060 on my credit card without any budget to cover this additional expense. Time to talk to Krishna and ask Him to inspire some donors to come forward and help make this festival tour happen.<br /><br />Many times on this tour we come into a situation where we have to spend money that we do not have in our budget and we throw our hands up in the air and have to depend on Krishna:<br /><br />"My dear Lord Krishna, You are the husband of the Goddess of Fortune, and if it is Your desire, please send the laksmi needed to carry on this festival tour, which is meant to glorify you and your devotees."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Unbudgeted Additional Expenses Thus Far:</span><br /><br />$4,060 for wireless microphone systems and one stage spot light.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">$13,000 needed for sponsoring individuals</span> who are essential to making the festival tour a success. <br /><br />Our expenses for the tour are budgeted very tightly and then divided between the youth participants. Our budget for this summer tour is $89,000. Every bunk bed counts. The above individuals do not have the resources to pay for their bunk beds on the buses but are essential to make the summer tour happen. If you're interested in sponsoring someone, I'll gladly send you the list of their names. Contact me at bustour2007@krishna.com.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 6, Friday evening. ISKCON Montreal temple. </span><br /><br /><br />We arrived in Montreal (360 miles from NYC) on Friday evening, at around 8 p.m. Upon arrival, we were greeted by enthusiastic local devotees who handed us a box with about 2000 invitations to the Ratha-yatra festival, asking us if we would mind going out on Harianama and distributing the invitations so that people would come to the festival the next day.<br /><br />After some consultation with the bus tour organizing team members, we rounded up the youth and tried our best to give an inspirational speech to encourage them to go on a late-night Harinama in downtown Montreal... that went something like this. (We took the big box of invitations and dropped it into the circle, inbetween the huddle of youth and said...)<br /><br />"Here are nuggets of love of Godhead that have yet to find their way into the hands of the people of Montreal. Right now there is a Jazz Festival going on in Montreal, and there are hundreds and thousands of people in the streets. We want to give out each one of these invitations so these people come to the Ratha-yatra festival tomorrow. ... I know it's late. I know you're tired. But..."<br /><br />And that is all we had to say. The youth on the tour this year are especially sweet. So many of them were enthusiastic to go on the late night Harinama that Bhaktimarga Swami agreed to come along. We filled the two buses with our youth and some local devotees and packed in as many mridangas and kartals as we could find (both our own and the temple's) and then headed to Saint Catherine Street in downtown Montreal, right into the heart of the Jazz festival crowd.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-aKNHxUkI/AAAAAAAAAEk/KfvC3xBAfAk/s1600-h/web_montreal_harinama.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-aKNHxUkI/AAAAAAAAAEk/KfvC3xBAfAk/s400/web_montreal_harinama.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088955604063572546" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Within an hour we had distributed all the invitations. The kirtana kept on going. The dancing intensified. We took over the courtyard of a large cathedral. People gathered around us and watched. Lots of people asked questions. One person asked Toshan Krishna Prabhu's son, Govinda, "How do I become a Hare Krishna? No.. I am really interested. Please tell me." Niladri was preaching incessantly in French, which she had been learning in college. (The people of Montreal are French speaking....).<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-bedHxUlI/AAAAAAAAAEs/TpPlz8ZUKlo/s1600-h/web_montreal_harinama2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-bedHxUlI/AAAAAAAAAEs/TpPlz8ZUKlo/s400/web_montreal_harinama2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088957051467551314" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After the Harinama, the youth had a lively kirtana on the buses all the way back to the temple. There's something about going out on a limb for Krishna. It definitely seems like He reciprocates. He gives us a glimpse of a taste for chanting His names.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 7 - 8, Saturday - Sunday, Montreal Ratha-yatra</span><br /><br />Saturday morning we performed a run-through of the dance-drama performance in the temple room with H.H. Bhaktimarga Swami watching, to give us his feedback on how to improve the production. At 11:30 we boarded the buses to head downtown for the Ratha-yatra parade of Lord Jagannatha. This year the parade went down a different route, Avenue du Parc, but passed by the old temple. There were two carts. One for Lord Jagannatha. One for Srila Prabhupada. The carts and devotees stopped in front of the old temple for about 10 minutes to pay hommage, and an ecstatic kirtana ensued.<br /><br />We performed our second outdoor performance of DEVOTION here in Montreal at the Ratha-yatra festival in Jeanne Mance Park. It was the first time we tried the new headworn, over-the-ear microphones I had purchased from B&H Photo Video in New York. After following the simple instructions for setting up several wireless mics on separate frequencies, and some adjustment of the ear-pieces, the actors were on their way. The sound was much improved. FINALLY we could hear the actors on an outdoor stage without feedback and interference. My faith in wireless mics was restored. Now, Krishna, please kindly inspire someone to sponsor the $4,060 for these wireless microphones.<br /><br />After the performance, the youth (still dressed up in full play costumes) went around the crowds and collected donations amounting to $555 Canadian dollars. Our bus driver noted that this was very nice and that this amount would cover our next tank of gas. These days one tank of gas for the yellow greyhound bus costs about that much.<br /><br />On Sunday we again perform during the afternoon at the festival site, and then in the evening, help take down the festival along with the Festival of India crew and Madhuha Prabhu.<br /><br />We're about to leave when we try to start the yellow greyhound bus that the girls are using for the tour... we turn the ignition swith and nothing happens. Nothing at all.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 9, Monday - Still in Montreal.</span><br /><br />We assume the batteries are dead. We pull up the second bus, our trusty school bus that the boys are using. We connect jumper cables between the two buses and attempt to charge the much larger batteries of the greyhound bus. Hours pass. Evening turns into night. Night turns into day. By 6:00 a.m., the bus still won't start. We call MCI (the manufacturer of our greyhound bus) and they send a local mechanic to our rescue.<br /><br />The mechanic arrives and has his assistant use a hammer on the starter block in the engine compartment. "Whack it hard with the hammer," the mechanic tells his assistant in French. After a few whacks, and some help with ethanol starting fluid, the bus coughs up black smoke and begins to churn the engine belts. Gradually it comes back to life. The mechanic says that our starter has gone bad. We follow him to the repair shop. On the way, Dravinaksa Prabhu (our main bus driver) attempts to switch on the air conditioning. This causes the bus to turn off and stop in the middle of the road. The mechanic, who is leading the bus with his vehicle ahead of us, turns around and comes tour rescue again. He fiddles with the cables. He bangs on the starter. He tries to drive the bus himself to figure out what is wrong. The bus stops again. He tightens the connections on the batteries, and it seems to be alright from here on. He now says that we don't have a bad starter, but that the connections on our batteries were loose. He sends us on our way after we pay him $125 for his services. Hmmmmm.... If all that was wrong was a loose cable connection on the batteries, why did he have to whack the starter with a hammer in the morning to get the bus started? Something doesn't add up. For now, we're happy that things are working again.<br /><br />Our greyhound coach bus is already 15 years old. The school bus is six years old. By the time we finish paying off the loans on these used buses, we will need new ones. Sometimes people ask us how we cover the expense for this tour... how we pay for the buses, etc. The answer is one donation at a time. One sponsorship at a time. We still owe about $41,000 on these older, used buses. Gradually, year after year, we collect donations and pay off the buses.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-e2NHxUmI/AAAAAAAAAE0/VXUjw67o1oA/s1600-h/web_montreal_watermelon_sev.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OrsRBPhbFNU/Rp-e2NHxUmI/AAAAAAAAAE0/VXUjw67o1oA/s320/web_montreal_watermelon_sev.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088960758024327778" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Nobody gets paid to do this tour. Everyone contributes and pays to come the tour, to help render devotional service all summer long. And that's the way we like it. We are attempting to serve Lord Jagannatha from our heart, with devotion, not expecting anything in return.<br /><br />Anyhow, today, after the early morning episodes of the yellow greyhound bus not starting, we hear that there is some transmission problem on the school bus. Premanjana reports that as he was driving, the transmission would get stuck in a particular gear and revv up to 2700 rpm without switching into the next higher gear. Not good. As we speak, Premanjana and Dattatreya are on the phone to Detroit Diesel Allison dealers in the Montreal area, trying to find someone who will look at our school bus transmission to see if it is okay.<br /><br />The fun begins. We're two weeks into the festival tour and already both buses are refusing to work properly, once again, one starter motor and one transmission at a time. A continous test of patience and faith. Meanwhile, trying to keep 45 youth happy and on track, Bhaktimarga Swami continues intensive play rehearsals drawing out acting skills from our untrained, non-professional talents, and in a few hours from now we will be heading to the Olympic Swimming Pool for some much needed R&R.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 10 - Tuesday - Canoeing at Silver Lake, Ontario</span><br /><br />Today we're at Silver Lake, one of the many lakes in the province of Ontario. It's about halfway between Montreal and Toronto, not far off the main highway. We have a morning program and after breakfast, get into study groups to read various Prabhupada's books. Some are studying Teachings of Lord Chaitanya. Others Nectar of Instruction. Others join a Bhagavad-gita study group, facilitated by His Holiness Jayadvaita Swami. After lunch, we rent some canoes and most of the youth paddle out onto the lake. In the evening we get together again for dinner and then head out on the road again. It's an overnight drive to our first big hall performance of the tour, in a Toronto suburb called Mississauga. The young men fall asleep on their bunk beds on the men's bus after a long day of physical activity.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 11 - Wednesday - Performance at Meadowvale Theater, Mississauga, Toronto</span><br /><br />We're nervous. This is an important hall program on the summer tour this year. People are paying up to $62 per seat to come and see us perform a show on bhakti / devotion to Krishna.<br />We arrive at the theater in the middle of the afternoon and are soon greeted by the technical supervisor and the lights operator, who give us the guided tour. There are five changing rooms, each with individual chairs, dressers, mirrors and lights for each performer, and with showers and toilets attached to each changing room. Wow. When our young performers enter the changing rooms their faces light up with smiles. Nadia squals with excitement. She is one of the Bharata-natyam dancers and has never had this nice of a facility to get ready in. They cannot believe it. It seems just like what you would expect to find in a high quality Hollywood movie studio.<br /><br />The technician shows us the main stage, which is larger than anything we've ever performed on. Several layers of curtains. An orchestra pit. Front, center, side, and balcony seats dot the auditorium in front of the stage. The sound system consists of a 64-channel Allen & Heath mixer, 8 wireless mics, up to 56 regular mics... (wow) and when we go into the lights control room, we have so many lights and options to choose from, it becomes difficult for our lighting operator, Markendeya, to keep track of what each button and fader does. Eagerly he marks the most important light faders with masking tape and writes a description on each.<br /><br />The performers get ready for the show. The local devotees who have organized and promoted this program come to speak with us and make sure we have everything we need. They bring prasadam for the youth. Promptly at 7:00 p.m. the show begins.<br /><br />A local devotee dance troupe from ISKCON Toronto opens with a 10-minute performance of theirs that they have been rehearsing for the upcoming Ratha-yatra festival. Then our troupe begins. The lights dim. The live music begins. Accompanied by the sounds of live flute, violin, dholak, kartals and harmonium, Anapayini announces the show: "Welcome to Devotion..."<br />The dancers enter. The lights fade up. The show begins.<br /><br />I'm videotaping the performance for posterity. Apart from a few glitches with the live sound (short bursts of feedback when a person gets too close to a speaker with their wireless headset microphone), the performance goes well. We've survived our first big show. The audience is mostly Indian bodied. About 300 people fill the auditorium.<br /><br />After the performance, the guests exit the auditorioum into the foyer, where they are greeted by our performers and where local devotees begin to serve out plates of a vegetarian prasadam feast. Each guest receives a plate. And there are several tables filled with Srila Prabhupada's books displayed prominently in the middle of the reception / foyer hall.<br /><br />I overhear some of the feedback that the guests are giving the youth. Professor O'Connel was in the audience. He comments on the sincere devotion that he saw within these young actors. Several older Indian ladies hug the girls and compliment them on their beautiful costumes and dancing. After some time as the crowd disspates, we clean up and then go back to the buses to celebrate our first successful hall performance of the season with all-you-can-eat ice cream.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 12 - Thursday - Niagara Falls</span><br /><br />We do the tourist thing and visit nearby Niagara Falls, in the spot where Lake Erie drains into Lake Ontario. They're not the tallest falls -- there are 500 falls taller than Niagara -- but they are voluminous, magnificent. 36 million gallons of water per minute flow across this waterfall that streches for about 600 feet on the Canadian side, then flows around an island and falls another 200 or so feet of a giant sheet of water on the American side (the falls are right on the border between the US and Canada.)<br /><br />We take the youth on the "Journey Behind the Falls" tour. We get complimentary rain coats and descend down an elevator to a tunnel behind the falls, which has openings that allow you to peek out at the falls from behind to see a blinding sheet of thick, white water falling like torrential rains, rumbling, pounding loudly past the opening in the tunnel wall. We continue along the tunnel to an outlook platform right beside the falls, where we realize the importance of the complimentary rain coats we received earlier. The spray from the falling water covers us from head to toe. There are gusts of wind billowing at us from the falling water, mixed with spray that covers any camera lens in seconds. Some of our youth attempt to take a picture of us standing in front / at the base of the falls.<br /><br />We head back to the buses for dinner, cooked by our faithful cook for this part of our journey, Shyamanada Prabhu from Ireland. On the way, we walk past an Indian food store and some of us enter. Soon the entire bus tour youth are crowding into the storefront. The Indian lady greets us with enthusiasm. We see Limca, Thumbs Up, and Frootie juices in the refrigertated section. Mangoes are $7 per case. We buy miscellaneous items and strike up a conversation with the Indian shopkeeper lady. She is a Jain, but her brother is a Krishna devotee. The family travels to the "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" (ISKCON) temple in Toronto every few months. She says that they have sponsored the Sunday Feast three times. She inquires about where we are all from and is amazed to see so many people from around the world, from different countries and different backgrounds taking up her Indian Vaishnava culture. She says that she has visited our ISKCON temple in New Vrindavan twice, and that both her and her husband are enamoured by that place. They look forward to going there again for a weekend, away from the hustle and bustle of their busy lives running an Indian grocery store / Asian food mart in a predominantly white tourist town of Niagara Falls.<br /><br />Later, while we are sitting around our buses eating dinner, an Indian gentleman pulls up in his jeep. He had seen the writing on the side of our bus, "Hare Krishna Youth Ministry", and was offering his services. He asks if we need anything and is willing to make runs to the local supermarket to help us improve our dinner.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 13 - Friday - Toronto</span><br /><br />Today is laundry day. And it is also a very busy day at the ISKCON Toronto temple, as the local devotees run about the place, making last-minute preparations for the Ratha-yatra festival. The coordinators for the temple services are local youth who have grown up in the Toronto community, headed by Keshava and Vrindavan Vinodini Prabhus.<br /><br />We're asked to help with Ratha-yatra preparations. In rotating shifts of 15 young people, we help peel and cut about 20 large bags of potatoes (the 50 lbs kind that are almost as tall as a person). Then we mince ginger, chop fresh coriander, and load the trucks that will transport food and dry goods to Centre Island where the two-day weekend Ratha-yatra festival will be held.<br /><br />While some are peeling potatoes, some are loading trucks, and others go to do their laundy at the nearby laundromat. At around 8 p.m. we board our big yellow bus for Harinama in downtown Toronto. We're joined by Their Holinesses Bhakti-bhringa Govinda Swami, Bhaktivaibhava Swami, and Bhaktimarga Swami. I end up driving the yellow bus back and forth twice to transport more devotees. I'm told the Harinama was warmly received. There were certainly lots of people in the streets on a Friday night in downtown Toronto, on the square of Younge Street and Dundas. One devotee commented that the people of Toronto are so much more friendly and receptive than those we had encountered in New York City.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 14 - Saturday - Toronto Ratha-yatra</span><br /><br />At 7:00 a.m. I help Dravinaksa Prabhu get our big bus onto the ferry to Centre Island. We usually park the big bus on the island, at the festival site during the two-day event. It holds all of our performance gear, and serves as changing room and repose for the youth. Around 10:00 a.m. I take the passenger ferry back across the water to Toronto, and am joined by Shammy, a local youth who grew up in the ISKCON Toronto community and is now a manager at Monster.ca (the job placement website.) We talk about preaching on the Internet. I share my experiences of working at Krishna.com. He tells me about his work in sales, marketing and advertising on Monster.ca. We talk about branding the Ratha-yatra festival / Festival of India / Festival of Chariots. One of the names we came up with on the ferry ride was "K-Fest" with the subtitle "Krishna Culture Festival" as a catchy title to market the festival to a non-Hindu audience. We envision large posters advertising the festival all over Toronto.<br /><br />Soon we re-enter the bustling world of bay-side Toronto and catch a Taxi cab back to the temple. The taxi driver, an older Canadian gentleman in his 50s, shares his woes about driving a taxi and that he is retiring soon. He says he used to live next door to Hare Krishnas in the 70s and that he has seen a few of our Ratha-yatra festivals on Yonge street.<br /><br />Back at the temple on Avenue Road, the devotees are getting ready to walk to the start of the Ratha-yatra parade, at the intersection of Yonge and Bloor streets. We all head over there on foot... about a 2-round japa walk.<br /><br />Toronto's Ratha-yatra parade is one of the largest in North America. It is promoted in the major Toronto newspapers weeks in advance. We are joined by several hundred guests in pulling the three chariots of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva, and Lady Subhadra. The youth lead the kirtana in front of Lord Jagannatha's chariot throughout the 2-hour parade, which ends at the ferry docks on the bayside. I take lots of video footage of the youth dancing and leading the parade kirtana, as well as the crowd reactions along the sidewalk, who watch the parade intently.<br /><br />The bus tour organizers carry walkie-talkies, synchronized on channel 11 (family radio band frequency). We pick up the conversation of some local tourists on the same channel, who are apparently watching the parade. They radio each other. "Hey, did you see that?" - "Yeah!' - "It's better than the gay pride parade..." - "Yeah!"<br /><br />Hmmm. Not sure if that was a compliment or not.<br /><br />After the parade, all the youth gather quickly to lign up at the ferry ticket counters to be ahead of the flood of people rushing to Centre Island for the rest of the festival. We buy group tickets and catch the next available ferry. We arrive on the island about 20 minutes later, and rush over to the Festival of India site to get ready for our performance. Actually, most of us rush to the free feast tent first to get something to eat before getting ready for the peformance.<br /><br />We're supposed to perform on the open stage at about 2:45 p.m. By 2:00 p.m. it starts to rain. The rain turns into showers. The sky is grey with rain clouds in all directions. We ask Keshava about the weather forecast. He checks his Blackberry PDA. Bad news. Rain for the rest of the day. We head over to the covered stage (under a large tent) to see if we can re-arrange the stage performance schedule to fit the youth in on the covered stage. Keshava Prabhu works his magic. Somehow or other he squeezes time and cuts short some of the other acts to squeeze us in. We perform at around 5:30 p.m. to a packed tent (a captive audience trying to get out of the rain.)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 15 - Sunday - Toronto Festival of India on Centre Island</span><br /><br />Today is the second of two days of the Festival of India on Centre Island, in Toronto. Not a cloud in the sky this morning. The boys stayed on the island last night to guard the festival site, without incident. We woke up early and took our showers at a small shower stall on the other side of the little river that passes by the festival site.<br /><br />This morning H.H. Bhaktimarga Swami is performing initiations in front of Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra. Shammy, the boy who works for Monster.ca and shared with me his ideas about marketing and promoting Festival of India, becomes Savya Sacin Dasa. Darshan Doug from Winnipeg becomes Daruka Dasa. Jagannatha Puri Dhama Dasa from the Festival of India crew gets second (brahmin) initiation. A handful of other devotees got initiated but I do not remember all of their names.<br /><br />Bhaktimarga Swami lectures on the responsibilities of taking initiation into ISKCON. He quotes the first purpose of ISKCON as established by Srila Prabhupada, to systematically propagate the Krishna consciousness movement. He encourages the new initiates to take this mission to heart and try to give Krishna to others in a way that is pleasing to the public.<br /><br />I see Mother Vishakha sitting near the Free Feast tent. I take the opportunity to speak with her about our upcoming visit to Sharanagati Farm community, 4 hours northeast of Vancouver. We discuss the plans for various devotees to host the youth for meals, and activities to do during the day, including a "barn raising"... helping a local devotee build his home.<br /><br />Mother Vishakha comments on the fact that we have about 95 percent Indian bodied people at the Festival of India... about 10,000 people on each of the festival days. She points out that there are about 95 percent non-Indian people walking past the festival site - but they are not coming in and joining in the festivities. Hmmm... yes. We talk about that for a few minutes. Again the discussion turns to branding and marketing Festival of India in such a way as to make it attractive to a non-Hindu audience.<br /><br />We perform again today, the entire 1.5-hour production of our dance drama, DEVOTION. Festival of India crowds are fickle. After the first couple of scenes, the chairs are filled. The space in front of the chairs, between the stage and the first row of chairs, is filled with children and their parents... eagerly looking up at the bus tour actors and dancers. The second scene portrays Hiranyakashipu arguing with his son, Prahlad, about the existence of God. Suddenly Nrsimhadeva appears. The kids shriek. It's confirmed. We've got a good play :-)<br /><br />After the performance, two well-dressed Indian men come to see us behind the stage. One of them is introduced to us as the Hindu Council leader of Pakistan, and member of the Pakistani parliament. He hands us his business card - he seems legit. He invites us to tour Pakistan next year, all-expenses-paid. We talk about the challenges of preaching Krishna consciousness and "Hindu Dharma" in Pakistan. Some time later he proposes to marry one of our 17-year old dancers and take her back with him. We lose all respect for the man. There go our short-lived hopes of touring Pakistan.<br /><br />At about 5:00 p.m. we all help take down the festival. By 7:30 we're done.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 16 - Monday - Serpent River, Ontario</span><br /><br />We take a pit-stop at a beautiful nature spot halfway between Toronto and Thunder Bay. It's a rest area on the side of Highway 17 called Serpent River. As the name suggests, a river runs around the back of the rest area, through luscious mixed forest of pines and deciduous trees that covers this part of Ontario. The river cascades over a natural rock slide, which the youth soon discover and utilize to its fullest extent.<br /><br />First though, we have a morning program by the side of the river with our bus tour Gaura Nitai deities and His Holiness Jayadvaita Swami. It's an open question-and-answer session. Any Krishna consicous topic is game. The youth have a chance to ask about anything that's on their mind. Any doubt or question they may have about our philosophy. This morning's topic seems to revolve around kirtana standards. What should be the mood of a person leading kirtana? How did Srila Prabhupada lead kirtana? Interesting discussion ensues. ... "What's wrong with singing certain songs if we are having fun doing so?"<br /><br />The day is spent by the river, relaxing. Again, some of the youth break up into their reading / study groups to read through the various books by Srila Prabhupada that they have chosen to read during the bus tour. Some help prepare the meals. Others help clean up afterwards. That evening we depart for Thunder Bay, anticipating another important hall performance coming up at Lakehead University.<br /><br />It's a six-hour drive through the night, along a winding Highway 17 with nary a town in between. Just long stretches of forest and a few hills as we make our way around the eastern perimeter of Lake Superior. We notice that it never quite gets dark this far north of the equator. There's always a shimmer of light in the north, it gets a little darker by about 10:00 p.m. and begins to get light at around 4:00 a.m. By the time the sun rises at 6:36 a.m. it has already been daylight for a couple of hours. A strange phenomenon for all those of us who are not used to these long days in the northern summer. For instance, you'll be driving down the highway in daylight and feeling really tired and you'll look at your watch and it's 9:30 in the evening. But the intensity of the daylight makes you feel like it's in the middle of the day.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 17 - Tuesday - Thunder Bay - Performance at Lakehead University</span><br /><br />This morning we arrive at a campsite in Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park, just outside the city of Thunder Bay, on the northwestern edge of Lake Superior, in the province of Ontario, Canada. The falls are billed as the "Niagara of the North." They are not as impresive as the real Niagara Falls, but still reflect a spark of Krishna's splendor. We are greeted by Premkishor Prabhu, the devotee doctor who lives here and who has arranged and promoted our hall program at Lakehead University. He brings with him lots of bhoga for us to cook for the youth, as well as for the hall program tonight.<br /><br />We have another morning program with H.H. Jayadvaita Swami, and some more enthusiastic discussions. This time the youth ask questions such as why we don't eat chocolate, why certain foods like onions and garlic are in the mode of ignorance, etc.<br /><br />The bulk of the day is taken up with drama rehearsals, bus cleanup, and preparing the prasadam for the hall program this evening. We plan on distributing prasadam to all the guests who come to see our performance.<br /><br />By about 4:00 p.m. we drive to Lakehead University. We're performing at Bora Laskin Auditorium, in the same location we've performed last year. It's an average size auditorium, seating about 300 people. Prem Kishor Prabhu has promoted the event as a charitable benefit to help raise funds for the local cancer research foundation. Because of this tie to a charitable cause, the local newspaper has been sponsoring a quarter-page color advertisement for the show for the past five weeks. He's charging only $10 per seat, and hopes to fill the auditorium. Here's an example of how one man in a remote city can rent a hall, promote the event, and do so in his spare time, without much effort.<br /><br />In the end, over 200 people show up for the event. The newspaper advertisements have generated enough interest to almost fill the hall to full capacity. To our surprise, they're not Hindus nor Indian bodied. The hall fills with mostly caucasian descendants of the Scots who settled this area of Canada. Students. Teachers. Parents. Along with some native "First Nation" people, many of whom live in the Thunder Bay area (the Canadian counterpart to what we call Native Americans in the US.)<br /><br />About five minutes before the show I meet with our volunteer sound engineer, Nitai Pran Prabhu, and go over the importance of trying for 99 percent perfection in making the live sound and microphones sound as good as possible... to avoid mistakes such as forgetting to switch on certain wireless mics with performers who have only one or two lines of dialogue. He reassures me he'll try his best.... and lo and behold... the performance goes well and the sound is almost perfect.<br /><br />As the guests come out of the performance into the lobby, we greet them and hand them plates of delicious prasadam that we have cooked for them, with the help of Shyamamanda Prabhu. Pakoras with tomato chutney, roasted nut halavah, and mango nectar drink. They're again presented with a book table filled with Srila Prabhupada's books, staffed by Bhaktimarga Swami's assistant, Yamuna Jivana Prabhu.<br /><br />I'm especially eager to get feedback from the "white" audience about our cultural performance all about various expressions of devotion to Krishna. I wait outside the main door of the venue, with a core team of three others who help me ask people as they come out what they thought about our performance. We didn't get much out of the ordinary. It seems that most people genuinely liked it.<br /><br />"I loved the dance."<br /><br />"The dancing was fantastic."<br /><br />"The food... I really liked the food."<br /><br />"What do you call that drum that you were playing? I really enjoyed the drumming segment."<br /><br />One native ("first nation") lady remarked how she came because she was attracted by the title of our show, DEVOTION. She was a practicing spiritual healer who supposedly travels on the astral plane... and she says that when she does so, the sound of our kirtana on stage is what she hears at that time... and she was instantly attracted by the devotion and natural spirituality that our youth supposedly carry with them.<br /><br />Another lady, age 30, who teachers at a local Waldorf school, inquired how she could join the festival tour next summer. She said that she just felt overwhelmed by the happiness that these youth expressed, and she could think of nothing better to do with her summer than to travel with us.<br /><br />One caucasian couple expressed hesitation to comment on any of the acting, but diplomatically commented that "the dancing was good," giving me the sense that the play portion of the performance was a little too "preachy" for this family, since every scene revolved around devotion to Krishna. It may have been that they were devout Christians and were a little surprised by our heavy focus on devotion to Krishna.<br /><br />Overall, all the people we asked gave encouraging, positive comments. Next time maybe it would be good to have someone who seemingly seems neutral and not connected to our performance to ask the same questions, and get some more constructive feedback.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 18 - Wednesday - Winnipeg</span><br /><br />Today we're in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the longitudinal center of Canada, and the windiest city in North America. We shower at the downtown YMCA, and head to Mother Vrinda's house for breakfast and planning the day's activities. Mother Vrinda has been hosting a temple in her home in this part of Canada for many years. She cultivates a small congregation whom she has invited for a kirtana / dance party in her back yard this evening, to mingle with all of us.<br />After breakfast, the big yellow bus goes into service at a local bus repair place. We're attempting to fix an issue with the low air pressure warning buzzer signal not coming on when it is supposed to.<br /><br />At noon time we go on a Harinama through the busy section of downtown Winnipeg. We encounter many office workers sitting outside the office buildings eating their lunch packs. They look at us incredulously. I see a lot of blank stares. I often wonder what people must think about us when we go out on Harinamas in places that are not used to seeing devotees, and how we can make a positive impression on them. <br /><br />Towards the end of lunch hour we sit down on a grassy area in a park in front of the government buildings of Winnipeg. We sing maha-mantra melodies in themes. One of our bus tour girls, Gaura Nitai, is feeling homesick. She's from Poland and so we pick Polish Festival Tour melodies and sing several tunes that Sri Prahlad Prabhu has made famous. Parijata sings some melodies from her Hillsborough, North Carolina devotee community. Then Bhaktimarga Swami teaches us a typical Toronto tune. Finally, Maharaja leads us on another Harinama across town as we walk back to Mother Vrinda's house for lunch prasadam. As Maharaja meets people standing in their shop doors, looking out at us, he greets them, says hello, even while he is in the middle of leading the kirtana. Often, if he's close enough, he walks up to the people and shakes their hand... "Hello. How are you?" I like that. Very personal. A way to connect with people on Harinama and break down the barrier of blank stares versus seemingly happy, dancing, chanting youth.<br /><br />Later that afternoon, the bus tour girls meet with Mother Malati, who is following behind the tour in her own van. She spends about an hour and a half with the girls, discussing how to deal with issues that young women typically encounter in ISKCON. At the same time, the young men spend time with Jayadvaita Swami, who will be leaving the tour tomorrow. The guys talk about guy topics, such as the importance of brahmacari training in order to be a good householder. What's wrong with just having several girlfriends to check out who you're compatible with instead of marrying someone right away. And the importance of the Vanaprastha Ashram to guide the younger generation. Important topics.<br /><br />In the evening, at 6:30 p.m., we perform a shortened version of our program for the assembled guests that Mother Vrinda has invited. She has built a small stage for us to perform on, in her back yard. The yard soon fills up with guests. The youth shine once again. They are real troopers. Almost every other day they're performing, doing service, etc. The program goes late into the evening, as guests mingle with the youth, ask questions, and take prasadam together.<br /><br />By about midnight, everyone has gone home, our clean-up teams have cleaned as much as they could, and the youth finally tuck into bed on their respective buses. Tomorrow we'll have a relaxed day in Winnipeg, before heading out further West across Canada.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">If you are interested to correspond with us about this tour, or have any questions or comments, please email us:</span> <br /><br />bustour2007@krishna.com<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Preview:</span> Next, we're heading to Regina, Saskatchewan, for a hall program at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. Then we go to Calgary, Alberta, for Ratha-yatra. Then hiking in Banff National Park, whitewater rafting in Golden, and onto Sharanagati Farm near Ashcroft, British Columbia. Stay tuned for more adventures from the 2007 festival bus tour.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10