Pictures Coming....

 

Here in london..with flying internet, I will try to upload as many pics as possible..haribol..

Chaitanya 

amul: i lost my heart in chowpatty and thanks

wow! chowpatty is the most wondeful place! so many nice devotees, there are so many, i am so angry i cant spend more time here to know each one of them. anyways, i am doing well. my cell phone has run out of credit and im not going to recharge it because im leaving india in 8 days, so theres no use. Chai came to visit today, i hadnt seen him in a few weeks, it was nice to catch up again.
not much more to say, you have to come here to experience chowpatty for yourself. everything everyone says in praise of this place is true. The prasadam is spicy, but the devotees are really sweet.

i guess this is going to be one of my last posts. I cant believe this trip is almost over. It was like yesterday when i brought the idea of coming to india to chai and damodar in the kitchen while washing pots in towaco. 5 months later, im sitting here talking about finishing the trip!

Krsna, Radharani, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, and Srila Prabhupada have really been really merciful on me these past few months. Ive experienced some really far out, unexplainable things and met some devotees that just remind you of Krsna if you are just in their vicinity.

I think i've changed alot as well. My priorities have changed, my mindset has changed. I feel more focused and i feel like i am ready to take on the rest of my life with faith that whatever path i choose it will be perfect because it will be centered around Krsna.

Thanks for all the readers for your support, i always looked forward to reading your comments. I cant wait to see you all and talk to you in person about the many things i left out of this blog, hehe.

Also thanks to my parents, whom i appreicate even more, for giving me Krsna consciousness and letting me come on this trip (and financing it, lol). And Krsangi, my best friend and sister who support would help me when i was feeling down or lonely. Also VBD, my brilliant other best friend and brother in law, who helped me out on my chowpatty trip and sent me inspiring cards and gifts. and how can i forget Damodar, another best friend, who came to vrindavan with me and even though could not join me for the rest of the trip, kept pushing me and inspiring me to keep going. and last but not least, Chai, who i've got to know pretty well on this trip, who tolerated my chastisement and criticism with a very cool head. there are so many others, i know who you are and so do you. also thanks to those who kept in touch, it meant alot to me.


a.s.

Amul: Chowpatty

After a long trainride from A-bad i finally reached Mumbai central. I didnt know how i was going to get to the temple, but i thought i would just take a taxi. As i struggled to get my two huge bags out of the train, i saw him. A devotee!!! he had come to pick me up by the order of HG Gauranga prabhu. I was so happy and relieved.
We got to the temple around 11 pm and they gave me a room, a really nice one. It was next to Srutakirti prabhu, i could hear him sometimes. It felt awkward to have such a nice room next to a really senior devotee, but i wasnt complaining.
I got up late the next day and just made it for darsan arati. Funny thing was i didnt know the temple room was on the 2nd floor. So i was looking for a while and then finally got the courage to ask someone, they said it was upstairs. duh! Darsan arati was beautiful, the dieites came to life, because i had only seen them in picture before. I saw Gauranga prabhu and so many bramhacharis. Thats what struck me, so many bramhacharis. So many devotees! That is real opulence a temple has. Devotees.

let me just say that his magesty Vyenkata Bhatta das is like the most popular american around here. If i'm talking to a devotee, and i wanna really spur a conversation, i say (ive used this many times already). "so..yea my brother in law was here before, do you know him? his name is Vyenkata Bhatta das." The devotee who im talking to, his face would light up like a light bulb, ::indian accent:: "vat?! you are vyenkata prabhus brother in law, wow!!! hes a great devotee, awesome, funny , blah blah blah south indian yatra blah blah." HAHAHAHAH.... Vbd if your reading this...i got the "in" yo, cuz of you!

so anyways, i went to a preaching program at IIT with Gauranga prabhu the 2nd night i was here. I played mrdanga for him, it was really awesome. Gauranga prabhu is really looking after me and making sure im doing okay. IIT is where all the brainiacs are from, mad smart people. He gave a really nice lecture about Srila Prabhupada and something else that i cant remember. Then we had arati and prasadam.

oh i almost forgot, HG Bhavananda prabhu was here, and he gave SB class yesterday morning. Hes really funny and tells awesome Prabhupada stories. He left today.

Srutakiriti prabhu gave SB class this morning, it was amazing. He told the most sweet stories of his pastimes with Srila Prabhupada...man it was so nice.

I moved out of my luxury room today, into the ashram. There are so guys here from psena london, chirag and a few others. The ashram is nice, i am getting to know more devotees.

So i am just trying to soak up some good association and improve my sadhana. This is definately the best place to do it.

i am def. not going to travel in india alone again. Its really boring and lonely. well, now i know so i wont make that mistake again.

Sometimes when im idle, i miss home more than ever. Im on the home stretch, the last month. I am so eager to meet my friends and family again. But i have to hold on, im almost there! i dont wanna ruin my last month here. focus amul focus!

anyways, im out, thats whats up on my side...

jay sri radhe - never forget

a.s.

On to Mayapur

11/11/06

Haribol,

After a great Kshetra Parikrama, attended by over 2000 devotees, we were on to Mayapur, which is where I am currently enjoying the fastest internet I have yet to experience since being in India. It almost feels as fast as home. Otherwise, Mayapur is very nice, and I really can't think of much else to write now.

Chaitanya

amul: gujurat

the day i left for gujurat i found out my train ticket wasnt confirmed, it was a waiting list ticket.  i totally freaked out and didnt know if i was going to get a seat.  but i did.  so here i am in gujurat having major vrindavan withdrawals.  today all i did was eat and engage in small talk with my relatives.  I miss vrindavan so much. 

they took me to the iskcon temple, it was nice until a this devotee told me to come to his room so he could give me prasad but his real goal was to try to get me to ask my temple president if he could come to america.   was pretty lame.

the outside world looks even more miserable then before.



Srimati Radharani! when will you let me come back?

a.s.

Jagganath Puri....

11/8/06

As I'm sitting here in an internet cafe in Jagganath Puri, I'm thinking that our blog name...Vrindavan Days 2006 is inappropriate, as I am here in Puri, and Amul is currently in Gujurat, and neither of us will be returning to Vrindavan. For those of you who do not know, Kshetra Parikrama is happening in Puri right now, and there is thousands of devotees here. I'll just give you a quick list of the high points of my trip here in Puri so far (I arrived yesterday...)

• I was questioned if I was Hindu...Yes I also thought that only happened in America, but the panda in front of the Jagganath temple made that clear that it could happen anywhere. I did eventually get a wonderful Darshan of Jagganath, going right up to their lordships lotus feet, along with Vrindavan Candra Prabhu.
• Someone stepped in my kichri this morning...no I'm not complaining....but its a testament to how many people there is here. How many people can really say that someone has stepped in there kichri.
• Took a wonderful ocean bath...the beach here rocks...much better than the Jersey shore....

That's it from me, as yatra continues in the morning. But today, I am fortunate enough to have Rupanuga Prabhu sitting right next to me as well (yes...everyone is really here...there's thousands ....). Rupanuga says: "Haribol, as long I am in the Presence of Chaitanya and Amul, and Samikrsi Prabhu and Vrindavan Candra Prabhu, I have not time to miss anyone. However I feel after I lose their company, I will let you know."

So that's it for now, and I probably will not get to check the blog until my arrival in Mayapur, so Haribol from Jagganath Puri. Jai Jagganath.

Chaitanya and Rupanuga Das

amul: back and ready for more

dear friends!

im back.

 

words cannot explain how much fun i had.  Pandavasena has to have a trip in the vraj mandal parikrama. Its alittle austere and alot of walking (avg. 20 km per day!) but its sooooo much fun.  it was def. the best decision i made on this trip after VIHE. 

 

we finished today with a huge feast.  it was amazing.

 

now im off to gujurat tommorow and then the chow. 

 

the next chapter begins.

 

a.s.

 

ps. my cell fone is still on !