Hathras

7/8/06


Two days ago, Amul and I attended a home program in a town called Hathras. Hathras is approximately 30 kilometers from Vrindavan. In the USA, 30 kilometers by road takes maybe 15 or 20 minutes tops. Here in India it took us about two hours to get there, but I’ve already gone through driving in India (see “Driving in Delhi”) so I’ll just give you the highlights of the drive. The drivers decided to take a “shortcut”. The road for the shortcut is possibly the worst road I have ever seen. Its not that it wasn’t paved, but it was partially paved, so there was a thin strip of road in the middle surrounded by potholes varying in size from approximately 5-15 ft. Anyway, we got there, and it was the opening of the temple. Did I mention that this was a home program with Aindra Prabhu? Yes, we got to go on a home program with Aindra prabhu. We’ve made friends here with the 24 kirtan devotees, they’re all really cool, so they invited us to come on this program. Amul and I got to sit in the back of the Qualis (the standard SUV in India, made by Toyota…yes, I had never heard of it either) that Aindra Prabhu was riding in, sitting right behind him. Aindra Prabhu is one of the coolest devotees I think I have ever met. He is extremely humble, but he is not afraid to speak his mind one bit. On the way to Hathras, the back of our car was continuously making an obnoxious noise, and Aindra Prabhu did the most hilarious impression of it that I have ever seen. We were quietly cracking up for minutes after that.
After arriving in Hathras, we went right up into the temple (the program was actually a new temple opening), and Aindra Prabhu started singing. He sang in total for more than two hours. He sang every one of his signature tunes, including my beloved Vraja Vilas (Vol. 1. , Track 1, approximately 15:30 in, check it out, it’s a sick tune). This was by far the coolest program I have ever been to. I was also amazed to see all the Indians reaction to see this white devotee singing amazingly (as mentioned in Amul’s blog).
Since then, classes have started. They’re okay, but somewhat unbearable due to the extreme heat. Yesterday the electricity stopped working in the VIHE building, so we didn’t even have fans, I can tell you that it very very very very very very very (you got the point) hot. The word around Vrindavan is that rainy season is late this year, but everyone is anxiously awaiting its arrival. Well until next time, I’m out.


Chaitanya