Memories of Srutakirti Prabhu

August 1973 Camp: Bhaktivedanta Manor

I have been with Srila Prabhupada for about one year now and I have had the good fortune to massage him every day. I think I have become very efficient and expect that today will be another blissful massage. Srila Prabhupada said, "The manor is wonderful and when the sun is shining there is no place better."

Srila Prabhupada is sitting on a straw mat directly on the highly polished hardwood floor and along side him are two bottles. The large one is filled with mustard seed oil and the small one contains sandalwood oil. The sun's brilliant rays filter through a series of windows and Srila Prabhupada's golden complexion is effulgently sun drenched. I am sitting behind His Divine Grace rubbing his head with sandalwood oil for it's cooling effect. After massaging his head for about 15 minutes, I moved on to massage Srila Prabhupada's back. Mustard seed oil is used on his body, so I picked up the bottle to put a small amount on my hand.

Many times Srila Prabhupada said, "You can massage my back as hard as you can." He really meant it. It was truly amazing. I could put all of my strength into massaging his back and continue that way for a half hour or more and he never, ever said, "not so hard". Sometimes I would deliberately do it harder than normal, thinking there must be a limit to how hard he likes it. I didn't find such a limit. Srila Prabhupada sat perfectly relaxed during this "passive wrestling" as he called it. He didn't have to brace himself in order to accept my strength. He just sat there, as if nothing were happening at all.

He always enjoyed his massage and today was no different, then I stood up to change positions. As I took a step to the right to massage Srila Prabhupada's chest, I knocked over the bottle of mustard oil. Over the past year His Divine Grace had warned me many times to always keep the lid on the bottle. Unfortunately, sometimes I did and sometimes I didn't. Today I must pay the price. Immediately he yelled, "You fool, you will be intelligent when you are 80. Go get a cup and bring it here." I ran out of the room, reappearing with a stainless steel katori. Srila Prabhupada said, "All right, put your hand in the oil and then scrap it into the cup." The two of us sat there until all of the oil from the floor was in the metal cup. "Now use that oil to finish the massage," he said. Srila Prabhupada never, never wasted anything. More about that in a later pastime.

Now, the atmosphere seemed almost too quiet as I continued to massage Srila Prabhupada. I felt that he was angry because of my foolishness, so I began to think, "What can I say to mitigate my offense?" I mulled over it again and again finally I go up the nerve & blurted out, "Thank you very much Srila Prabhupada, I thought it would take much longer for me to become intelligent." Srila Prabhupada started laughing loudly. "Yes" he said, "that is an old phrase they would say in India when someone did something foolish. 'You'll be intelligent when you are 80.'"

Srila Prabhupada is a pure devotee & Krishna is obliged to keep the word of His devotee. I have no chance of ever becoming Krishna Conscious but if I can just live to be 80, I am sure, I will finally become intelligent. Real intelligence is to be Krishna Conscious, so I pray to live to be 80 and live up to the expectations of my beloved Srila Prabhupada.

March 18, 1973 Camp: Iskcon Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir

The first International festival has taken place here for the Iskcon devotees. The bengali form of kirtan has had a major influence on many of the devotees. Srila Prabhupada expressed some displeasure about the chanting of so many different mantras. He said, "They can chant their 'Nitai Gaura, Hari Bols', but I will chant Hare Krishna and go back home, Back to Godhead."

Some of the kirtans did get caught up in the 'Hari bols' too much. If we understood the translation maybe we would know what to do. Srila Prabhupada enjoyed chanting the Maha mantra.

April 26, 1973 Camp: LA Iskcon, New Dwarka

Brahmananda Maharaja and I have introduced Bengali style of dancing at the kirtans. We picked it up at the Mayapura festival. Many of the devotees love it. Srila Prabhupada has also been seen smiling as He watches the devotees dancing before him. Pradyumna asked him if it was all right to dance like that because some of the devotees thought it was strange. Srila Prabhupada replied, "Yes, of course!"

Srila Prabhupada loves to see his disciples chant "Hare Krishna" and dance in ecstasy.

October 6, 1972 Iskcon Berkeley

Today Srila Prabhupada arrived and stayed for a few days at the cottage of some of his well wishers. His disciples showed him around the house. Srila Prabhupada sat down and asked, "Is there any prasadam?" There was nothing available. He said, "So, bring some fruit." He said, "Bring something for washing my feet. Bring a towel and some water. This is common etiquette. You should wash a persons feet when they arrive." Srila Prabhupada needs nothing from any of us, but he mercifully showed us the proper way to honor a guest, what to speak of the spiritual master.

The devotees present hurried about preparing the items. As his disciple began bathing his feet Srila Prabhupada said, "Wash up to my knees. This kind of foot bath refreshes one's whole body after traveling."

One very hot day in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada again mentioned this same fact after coming back from an engagement. Returning to his quarters, he went directly to the bathroom and washed his feet and legs with cool water. He said, "After going out, doing this the whole body becomes rejuvenated.

He taught us the ancient standard of Vedic ettiquette complete with practical application. He enlivens us with this knowledge.

October 1972 Radha Damodara Temple-Vrindaban, India

This evening Srila Prabhupada is speaking in his sitting room. He has been doing it regularly since his arrival. Some of the local residents bring offerings of fruits and flowers and place them by his lotus feet. Suddenly, in the middle of his lecture a monkey darts into the room lunging for the bananas. Within a few seconds he is gone. Srila Prabhupada managed to get one of the bananas from the bunch but the monkey got the rest.

Srila Prabhupada said, "Just see how intelligent this monkey is. This shows that in their own respect all living entities are intelligent. How long do you think it would have taken you to do that, run in and out of here and get the bananas? This monkey is so intelligent in regards to his eating. He can do it in a few seconds. Practically no one even saw him. He just took the bananas and ran out. This is what it is like in the material world.

Everyone is very expert in their own sphere. So, we have to become expert devotees, not expert like the monkeys. What was amazing to me was that Srila Prabhupada was able to get his hands on the bunch of bananas at the same time as the monkey. The whole incident lasted about 4 seconds. Even though Srila Prabhupada was in the middle of his lecture he was aware of everything going on around him. Srila Prabhupada was always aware of activities around him. Srila Prabhupada was expert at doing more then one thing at a time.

September 1974 Camp: Vrindaban- Krishna Balarama Mandir ISKCON Srila Prabhupada has been very ill for several weeks. It has been a very difficult time. His eating has been almost nil and he is requiring assistance to walk. After much time improvement is being made to the relief of all of his disciples.

Some of the GBC members have been meeting. Their discussions are focused on relieving Srila Prabhupada of his management responsibilities. They feel if they can efficiently carry on, then Srila Prabhupada would be relieved. They are hoping his health will improve if he doesn't have to be concerned with daily management of Iskcon.

They called for a meeting in Srila Prabhupada's presence. They began saying, "Srila Prabhupada, we've decided that we can handle all the management, and you can be free to do your translating work. You don't have to worry about managing the society. We are competent to do it." Srila Prabhupada became very angry. He said, "When I want you to manage, when I want to stop managing, I'll stop. Don't tell your spiritual master when to give up the management. Who do you think you are telling your spiritual master that he doesn't have to manage any more? I'm quite fit to know when I don't want to manage. When I decide I don't want to do it, then I'll stop managing. That is up to me to decide. Not for you." Meeting adjourned!

This morning I was cutting the lawn. Srila Prabhupada's mercy gives me the opportunity to think of him even during such mundane activities.

February 26, 1975 Camp: Iskcon Miami

This morning Srila Prabhupada took his walk on the temple grounds in Coconut Grove. While walking in the yard he turned to the temple president and asked, "Why everyone else's yards are clean? Here there are only leaves on the ground?" The devotee responded, "Well, under the leaves there is nothing but dirt. The leaves keep the dirt from rising." Srila Prabhupada remarked, "There are lawns everywhere. Why, here you have dirt?"

June 1975 Camp: Iskcon New Navadvipa-Honolulu, Hawaii

The grounds in New Nabadwip had always been very nice but this time when Srila Prabhupada arrived they were not being maintained. On a walk in the temple grounds Srila Prabhupada asked, "Why this garden isn't taken care of?" Sukadeva, the temple president, responded, "Srila Prabhupada, there is no one to do it." At the time there where approximately 20 devotees walking along with Srila Prabhupada. He looked around at all of his disciples and said, "How is this? No one to do it."

To make advancement on the path of devotional service one must facilitate the pleasure of the Spiritual Master, then one certainly gets the grace of Krsna. We are dasa dasa anu dasa.

Srila Prabhupada distributed his mercy without distinction. This is the kindness of the pure devotee. On a flight from India to the west, we had a two hour stop over at the Bangkok airport. We had to wait in the transit area. Srila Prabhupada said to me, "Get my things. I am going to shower." I went to the baggage area, opened Srila Prabhupada's bag, grabbed his lota, towel and fresh change of clothing. It took me a few minutes, then I returned to His Divine Grace. He asked, "Where is the bathroom?" We walked together to the bathroom. Unfortunately there were no bathing facilities.

Srila Prabhupada was never easily discouraged. When he wanted to do something there was no such thing as an obstacle. Assessing the situation he turned to me and said, "All right, I'll bath from the sink". He put on his gumpsa & with lota in hand he proceeded to pour water over his body again and again. He washed with soap and then rinsed again. I stood by, watching in amazement, as he refreshed himself. He was completely transcendental to all other activities going on around him.

Watching from a corner of the bathroom was the attendant. He had a disturbed look on his face seeing the extra work that was being created for him. He had no idea that he was being benedicted by a Paramahamsa. He was getting the opportunity to do pujari work by the causeless mercy of Srila Prabhupada.

When Srila Prabhupada finished I gave him a towel. He dried himself off and put on a clean dhoti and kurta. After he finished we began walking out of the bathroom together. The attendant approached me. He was obviously complaining to me, although I had no idea what he was saying. While this was going on Srila Prabhupada was laughing. On the way out I said, "Srila Prabhupada I think he is a little upset." Srila Prabhupada replied, "Oh well! I had to take bath. I was feeling very tired."

Being with Srila Prabhupada during travel was always an incredible adventure.

He never felt the need to conform to any social conventions. On airplanes he would use the restroom when the seat belt sign was lit. He would take prasadam when we weren't allowed to have our trays down. If anyone said anything to him he ignored them. They would turn to me and I would shrug my shoulders and say, "I can't stop him." They inevitably walked away defeated realizing they were no match for a Vaikuntha person. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

October 7, 1972 Berkeley, California

Tonight Srila Prabhupada spoke at the University of Berkeley penetrating the heart of the neo-intellectual hippie capital. The San Francisco devotees enthusiastically received Him and relished His lecture. They had prepared barrels of popcorn and were distributing it following Srila Prabhupada's lecture.

Srila Prabhupada asked, "What is that?" Jayananda, who had been instrumental in cooking and distributing popcorn prasadam on street sankirtan in Berkeley for some time, said, "Popcorn Srila Prabhupada, would You like some?" Srila Prabhupada said inquisitively, "Yes, give me some."

The devotees distributed popcorn in little popcorn bags printed with the "Hare Krsna" mantra. Srila Prabhupada ate the fluffy spiced kernels with great relish and said, " Oh, this is nice". All the devotees, especially those who cooked and distributed the prasadam, felt so much pleasure. Now they were sure their offerings had been accepted and their lives were successful. When Srila Prabhupada finished eating the popcorn, He endeared Himself to all the Vaishnavas present by contentedly leaving His hand in the little popcorn bag. It was sweet. All the devotees attention hung on each of Srila Prabhupada's movements. The childlike action of His Divine Grace continued to enthuse the hearts of the devotees. Overjoyed the devotees ecstatically performed Hare Nama Sankirtan on Telegraph Avenue, a place famous for it's hippie inhabitants. On the way home, Srila Prabhupada continued to enthuse the devotees by driving slowly past the sankirtan party. All the devotees blissfully chanted and energetically danced being encouraged by Srila Prabhupada's present supervision.

The next night Srila Prabhupada had another preaching engagement. This time the devotees brought Srila Prabhupada popcorn and offered it to Him. Srila Prabhupada said, "No, I am old. I cannot do things like that very often. It is good, but it is very difficult for me to digest." He refused saying, " It is very good. I like it."

Jai Srila Prabhupada!

YS, Srutakirti dasa and Kusa devi dasi (yes, I was also present)

June 1972 Camp: New Dwarka-Iskcon Los Angeles

Today after the morning walk a group of 5 or 6 devotees stood in the downstairs hallway watching Srila Prabhupada walk with his cane up the stairs to his room. As he walked, we were all gratefully chanting, "Jai Srila Prabhupada!"

He turned and endearingly said with a beautiful smile. "I was just thinking, when I was young I would run up the stairs. Now that same desire is there. I still want to run up the stairs but due to this body..... now I can't run. I still want to do all these things, like when I was young. I want to be active but the body is very limiting." He continued walking up the stairs as we paid our heartfelt obeisances.

A light went on in my mind, I realized momentarily how Srila Prabhupada voluntarily accepted so many inconveniences to save us from this foolishly gross bodily conception of life. I witnessed the majesty of Prabhupada's lila while personally serving him but there were many painful periods as well.

My heart ached as we witnessed the suffering His Divine Grace underwent due to willingly accepting the sinful reactions of fallen souls such as myself.

The fact that Srila Prabhupada experienced these discomforts does not diminish his greatness but magnifies it. This is the unlimited mercy of the pure devotee. Who can be this magnanimous? He is our ever well wisher having taken the unbearable responsibility to save us from our fallen condition.

Over the next few days I will attempt to describe some of these sweet and bittersweet pastimes of Srila Prabhupada in the hopes that I can meditate upon and appreciate his greatness. I beg forgiveness to all I offend having shared my imperfect perceptions. If I wait till I become perfect before I attempt to glorify our beloved guru I'm afraid all memory may be lost. I recognize my inability to properly glorify our beloved shaktavesh avatar Srila Prabhupada. I realize that His Divine Grace being nitya-siddha wasn't susceptible to any material disease, but still he granted us his merciful association walking amongst us in this land of misery, Martyaloka. He came to deliver us, and he voluntarily came to this place of misery. This is his causeless mercy.

September 15 to October 28, 1972 Camp: Iskcon Juhu, Bombay

It was Srila Prabhupada's greatest pleasure to speak about Krishna and His associates 24 hours a day. He relished every opportunity to speak the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness. This contrasted sharply with his economic use of words when it came to his own bodily maintenance. The dichotomy was ecstatic .

Daily Srila Prabhupada took a short nap after taking lunch prasadam. After rising His Divine Grace would walk through my designated area to get to the bathroom. Often times I rested, too. As soon as I hear the sweet sound of his shuffling feet, I would get up and pay my obeisances. Srila Prabhupada walked by saying, "Dab" in a deep voice. By the time he returned to his sitting room it was my duty to go to the kitchen, cut open the coconut, place the gold straw through the opening and place the sweet water on his desk. This was the daily ritual. Every time I heard the word "dab" the same ecstatic opportunity availed itself. Particularly in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada often boasted to guests about how his servant could cook lunch so quickly. He would say, "Srutakirti, he can cook my entire lunch, rice, dahl, chapatis, and three or four subjis, in just 45 minutes." Then he would look at me and say, "Is it not?" Nodding I would respond, "Yes, Srila Prabhupada and I give you massage while the cooking is going on." Now, widening his eyes he said, "Just see, 45 minutes and all bodily maintenance business.... finished. This is Krishna Consciousness. We minimize bodily maintenance as much as possible, so we have more time for devotional service."

Another example that demonstrated Srila Prabhupada's efficiency with minimum effort would takes place in the privacy of his quarters. Srila Prabhupada instructed me without saying a single word. While sitting in his room he would look up at the ceiling fans. If they were on, it meant I should turn them off. Conversely, if they were off... turn them on. Other times, he would look at the french doors. If the curtains were open, I closed them. If they were closed, I opened them. Srila Prabhupada said, "This is the first class servant, he does his service without being asked. The second class servant, you ask him and he does it. The third class servant, you ask him and he does it begrudgingly or doesn't do it at all."

I pray to hear the shuffling of his feet, see his glances, hear his words and get the opportunity to serve him life after life. Srila Prabhupada is Acarya.

October 7, 1972 Iskcon, San Francisco Mandir, Camp Berkeley

I have been Srila Prabhupada's personal servant for one month. I am beginning to feel comfortable and knowledgeable in my duties. Little did I know this qualified me for the following set back. As soon as I think I know, oh, oh! This evening Srila Prabhupada called and asked me to prepare some puris, potato chips and hot milk. We were not staying at the temple. We were at a young couples cottage. They were friends of the devotees. The local devotees spent hours cleaning the house to make it presentable before Srila Prabhupada arrived. The kitchen facility was not very good. Fortunately, there was ghee on the stove, so a meal could be prepared. Srila Prabhupada had asked for "potato chips". I was anxious to prepare them, but had no experience . Making the puris was easy enough but took some time. It was getting late and I didn't want Srila Prabhupada to have to wait. I peeled some potatoes, sliced them as thin as possible with a potato peeler, and fried them in very hot ghee. They came out mildly resembling potato chips but not exactly like any chips I had ever seen. I felt very fortunate to be able to serve the living representative of Krsna. Srila Prabhupada was my living deity, the special mercy being he reciprocated with me directly. With affection I rushed to His Divine Grace with a dish of potato chips, one hot puri and a cup of hot milk. Srila Prabhupada pointed to the potato chips and firmly inquired, "What are these?" Bewildered I said, "Potato chips Srila Prabhupada." "They are not chips!" He thundered. "This is not what I wanted." Seeing my pain he said, "Anyway..... go on, leave it." I felt terrible. This was the first time I had bungled my service to my Guru Maharaja. I felt like dying. The offering had been unacceptable. I went back to the kitchen cooked the next puri. Returning to Srila Prabhupada's quarters I placed the puri on his plate and offered my obeisances. When I sat up he looked at me with a big smile. Assuringly he said, "These are very good. It is all right. They are very nice." I breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "Oh, good! Thank you, Srila Prabhupada." I was in bliss. I didn't know whether he really liked them or if he just said it to make me feel better. Either way was wonderful. It felt terrific to have someone care about me so much. I made another puri and brought it to him and waited for him to finish. Picking up his plates, I was thrilled to see that he had eaten all of the so-called potato chips. Srila Prabhupada mercifully accepted my bumbling efforts. Months later while in India, I finally realized that "chips" are the British equivalent of American "french fries". Having limited experience I misunderstood. I realized Srila Prabhupada wanted what I knew as "french fries". Later, I made Srila Prabhupada's chips according to his instructions, "thin and cripsy". Note the spelling discrepancy. It is not an error. Srila Prabhupada often uses endearing words. I preferred his use of the word "cripsy" for "crispy". It has a crunchier sound to it.

April 2-4, 1973 Camp: Saint Moritz- Zurich, Switzerland

While in Bombay one senior disciple showed Srila Prabhupada an appealing post card of Saint Moritz complete with colorful wild flowers and rolling green meadows. It was beautiful. Considerately Srila Prabhupada's devotee said it would be nice to take a break on the long trip between Bombay and New York. Srila Prabhupada could get some rest in Saint Moritz. Anyone having traveled between USA and India knows it's a bone crunching, grueling trip. Srila Prabhupada had been traveling quite briskly, spending no more than a 6-7 days in each location. So, stopping in Saint Moritz appeared to be a gallant proposition. However another motive for disembarking at Saint Moritz was gold speculation. A few senior men were thinking of fortifying ISKCON's reserves by investing in gold before the price was deregulated. Zurich was just the place for investment in gold bullion, however Srila Prabhupada nipped the idea in the bud. Saint Moritz is a ski resort area and this time of the year snow lay on the ground as far as the eye could see. The hotel we checked into had a central lobby with an elevator. When one got out of the elevator and entered into a hotel room, it opened up into a spacious three bedroom condo, with a complete kitchen. The large living room had sliding glass doors leading to a verandah that had a fantastic view of the snow covered mountains. By many persons standards it was breathtaking, but not to Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada was very regulated. It didn't matter where we were, life would go on like clockwork. Srila Prabhupada's schedule remained constant. This morning was no different. Srila Prabhupada put on his warm saffron hooded coat and prepared to go for his morning walk saying, "We shall go for a walk? Shall we see how cold it is?" Since we were on the ground floor His Divine Grace opened the sliding glass door to walk on the verandah to the big outdoors. Suddenly a huge whistling blast of ice cold air filled the entire condo. It was blizzard-like. Srila Prabhupada opened his eyes wide and exclaimed, "Ooohhh, this is much too cold!" Whenever I witnessed these childlike expressions my heart melted with joy. Srila Prabhupada exuded the innocence of a child, while most disciples experienced his powerful determined preaching, I felt fortunate to see Srila Prabhupada's face light up with endearing intimate expression. His Divine Grace felt the cold. He didn't like it, so he said, "We shall walk in the hallway inside the building." A little arctic blast wasn't going to interfere with Srila Prabhupada's morning walk. So His Divine Grace, Pradyumna and myself headed for the hallway. Now, this presented a different set of problems. Considering this was 1973, the resort was super high tech. It was designed to operate with very little waste of energy. The system was that if someone walked in the halls the lights would automatically go on for a specific amount of time, probably timed exactly to get you into the elevator, then the lights went out automatically. So as we walked up and down the corridor we were required to push various buttons along the way to keep the lights from going out. Otherwise we would have been walking in the dark.Pradyumna decided to go back into the apartment. Srila Prabhupada and I walked up and down the hallway. I ran from button to button pushing and chanting, pushing and chanting. This went on for about a 1/2 hour when Srila Prabhupada mentioned, "The cold weather has given me an appetite. You can go in and make me some halavah." I replied, "All right Srila Prabhupada, do you want me to wait till after your walk or should I go now?" The lights stayed on for about thirty seconds so I was concerned about the button pushing. Srila Prabhupada humorously retorted, "No, I will walk. You can go make the halavah." We always loved it when Srila Prabhupada had an appetite. It was a joy to cook for him. When I went in I said to the others, "Srila Prabhupada is still walking in the hall. Someone needs to go out to push the buttons to keep the lights on for him." We all peeked out the door to see Srila Prabhupada chanting, walking and pushing the buttons to keep the lights on. It was quite humorous.

Flying TWA (Transcendental World Airways)

Wherever the pure devotees resides is Vaikuntha and he distributes his causeless mercy to the fallen conditioned souls whether they like it or not. Srila Prabhupada always kept me smiling while traveling by air because he never changed his habits. In the presence of materialistic persons these activities were sometimes unusual. Srila Prabhupada liked to look outside during the takeoffs and landings from his window seat. He seemed to especially enjoy looking out the window upon landing. If we took a long evening flight, Srila Prabhupada's secretary and I would leave our seats next to Srila Prabhupada so he could lie down and take rest. On this particular occasion, Srila Prabhupada's transcendental body was stretched across the seats. His head lay peacefully on a pillow by the window. He appeared completely relaxed, something I still don't know how to do on a plane. His feet went under the armrest reaching about 10-12 inches into the aisle. They looked so beautiful, with or without saffron socks covering them. This evening his lotus feet were snugly covered. As he rested for about an hour the passengers walked up and down the aisle brushing against his kamala padas. Sometimes when they hit them, he would move slightly, but he never pulled his feet in. He left them there the entire time he rested, benedicting everyone fortunate enough to pass by. Srila Prabhupada's entourage watched the show from the next row, wondering what these people had done to be given such an opportunity. Perhaps Srila Prabhupada forcibly benedicted them with causeless mercy whether they liked it or not. Thank you Srila Prabhupada for compelling me to have a glimpse of your unabashed divinity. Please force your benedictions upon me again and again as you have compassionately done so many times in the past.

Feb. 19, 1975 Camp: Venezuela Airlines

Srila Prabhupada influenced everyone he was around. Traveling with him was an enlightening experience. Being with Srila Prabhupada at his temples was ecstatic, seeing how he was able to lift everyone's spirits to the transcendental realm but being with him in planes and airports offered us the opportunity of seeing how he changed the lives of those who knew nothing about him. It must have been his effulgence. It could be seen, even by a quadruped such as myself. Once a stewardess passing by said, "This man looks very wonderful." Others would ask what they could do for him.

The incident on Venezuela Airlines stands alone, however. It was most unique. Srila Prabhupada, Paramahamsa Swami, Nitai dasa and I were traveling from Mexico City to Caracas. I did not prepare any prasadam for the flight but just before we boarded the plane a Vaishnava Indian lady handed me a bag with some puffed rice in it that she made for the trip.

Shortly after takeoff Srila Prabhupada said, "All right, let's take prasadam." I said, "Do you want what is being served on the plane?" He immediately responded, "No, no! We have our prasadam. That's all right." I said, "Okay." I didn't even ask for a plate. I put the tray-table down, unwrapped the aluminum foil and placed the puffed rice before my spiritual master. He immediately started eating. He finished about half of it, although it was not a very large portion. Without even looking at me he said, "All right, now you can take." This is the nectar for which we were always anxious. Srila Prabhupada always took great care of his entourage. This quality was one of many that I greatly appreciated.

Srila Prabhupada sat by the window. He always sat by the window. I was in the middle. I always sat next to Srila Prabhupada, unless I succumbed to the wishes of a GBC member. Paramahamsa was in the aisle seat. I took the puffed rice from His Divine Grace and split the foil down the middle, keeping half for myself and giving the rest to Paramahamsa Swami. We were happily eating Srila Prabhupada's remnants when a young stewardess walking down the aisle looked at us and spontaneously reached past Paramahamsa and placed her hand in my maha. Grabbing a fistful she tossed it in her mouth and exclaimed, "Oh, this is very good. What is it." Trying to keep my composure I answered, "It's puffed rice. It's made from rice." Srila Prabhupada was looking at her with a broad smile. Again she said, "Ah, this is very good." "I'm glad you like it." I said, still a little shocked about what she had done. "Are you having anything else to eat." she inquired. "Well" I said, "were vegetarian. Unless there is some fruit, we can't have anything." She eagerly responded, "I will go up to the first class section and get you a basket of fruit." In a moment she was back with fruit and knives. She again asked, "Is there anything else I can get you." Turning to Srila Prabhupada I said, "Prabhupada would you like some milk?" He said, "Yes, hot milk." I said, "Okay, he will have some hot milk and we will also." She quickly went to first class and immediately came back with the hot milk.

I have heard Srila Prabhupada speak in many lectures about Supersoul residing in the heart of the living entity. I had never experienced His presence before this day. I am convinced that only Super soul within the stewardess's heart could have inspired her to act in such an unprofessional manner.

Sometimes devotees would offer me money to get a taste of Srila Prabhupada's remnants. (I never took it) They would beg for the opportunity to do some personal service. Here was this flight attendant boldly going where no one had ever gone before by the mercy of Krishna and His pure devotee.