Room Conversation

Hari-śauri: [chuckling] I was thinking there's a verse in one of the Vedas that describes a woman's heart is like a razor.

[break] The chief guest was here.

Prabhupāda: Yes?

Hari-śauri: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Who was he?

Hari-śauri: He was the man that offered you his obeisances when you just got out the car, just before we entered the...

Prabhupāda: Oh. He is Mr. Sen? No.

Hari-śauri: Mr. Sen was here. At least that's what I was told, anyway, that he was the chief guest. [break]

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: If they have a proper stage like in Bombay, with good lighting, it enhances it very much.

Prabhupāda: And Bombay will understand English. Play was very nice.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Costumes were good?

Prabhupāda: Everything was all right.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Sudāmā was a complete transformation.

Prabhupāda: [chuckles] He played first.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Really.

Prabhupāda: All of them played nice.

[pause] [break] If you continue, throughout the whole year people will come.

Hari-śauri: Just like they have prasādam distribution at the weekend, they could also put a theatrical performance and kīrtana like this on the stage every week.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: What would be very nice, I think, is if gradually the local devotees can learn to play these things in Bengali. Then the people will...

Prabhupāda: No. There is another process. You can simply play, and by microphone we can explain in Bengali.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Narration. That's best. What would be best, though, is if the local people also learned, so that in every temple there could be this kind of performance.

Prabhupāda: Any local language we can speak. They'll simply show their movement. Speaking somebody, he will show like that. In cinema they do that.

Hari-śauri: Sudāmā's men, they also know how to do that. They also know how to do mime. That Lohitākṣa used to do that.

Prabhupāda: That is the latest art. The same man can play in any country, and it is explained, different languages.

[pause] How many men they come?

Hari-śauri: I didn't see.

Prabhupāda: From local village?

Hari-śauri: Yes.

[pause] [kīrtana in background] It's very nice. Wonderful kīrtana. [break]

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: ...thousand.

Hari-śauri: Yes. It's picking up. It's becoming a little busy. There were one or two big parikramā parties came too. The photo display should be ready tomorrow also.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Yes. Actually, they say it is ready. Will you be looking at it this year?

Prabhupāda: Hmm? [break] Pālikā has gone? No.

Hari-śauri: Yes. She left this afternoon.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Rangoon she's going to.

Hari-śauri: She should be back in four days.

Prabhupāda: In Rangoon we have got any place?

Hari-śauri: No.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Rāmeśvara gave her money for staying. It's really not very good. It's not very good that our devotees, especially the women, have to do like this. The government is harassing us. Now nearly all the GBC men have come. Jagadīśa has still to come, and Ātreya Ṛṣi and Balavanta and Gopāla Kṛṣṅa. Then they'll all be here.

Prabhupāda: Here everyone was praising the food. Why in Vṛndāvana they criticize? So you GBC find out the cause. We cannot allow in Vṛndāvana going like that. I especially brought this Bhagatjī, for this purpose. Still...

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Yeah, he should be able to do it.

Prabhupāda: No, he cannot do.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: He can't. I know Akṣayānanda cannot either.

Prabhupāda: Anyway, it is not being done.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: No.

Hari-śauri: Not for the last two years.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: It's never been done.

Hari-śauri: Vṛndāvana is well enough advertised now that the guesthouse should be full all the time, but it's not full.

Prabhupāda: The thing is, it is guesthouse, and once it is advertised that the food is not good, nobody comes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: First impression is the lasting impression. If one time a man comes and it is not good, he will never return.

Prabhupāda: Then in Bombay we shall be very careful.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Very careful. Only the best cooks.

Prabhupāda: Not best cook. The best cook is available. Management is not good.

Hari-śauri: We need a very expert manager for that guesthouse.

Prabhupāda: And in Bombay—before we get bad name; then it is lost.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Everything has to be set up beforehand perfectly.

Prabhupāda: If required, we shall appoint professional man and keep everything very vigilant; things are going. Otherwise, once bad reputation—finished, so much attempt.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Our Mr. Chagriya should be able to give a lot of guidance and advice. I spoke with him a few years ago.

Prabhupāda: But he did not. Theoretical.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: He has those hotels, Sea Palace Hotel. Svarūpa Dāmodara still has not come.

Prabhupāda: Then there is no hope of going to Manipur.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Really?

Prabhupāda: Hmm.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Because of this delay of his coming?

Prabhupāda: Hmm.

Hari-śauri: Well at least he reported to Gargamuni that the prospect was good.

Prabhupāda: No. Gargamuni did not say anything.

Hari-śauri: Well, he remained in Calcutta.

Prabhupāda: No, no, he came here, but he did not say.

Hari-śauri: Who did Gargamuni speak to?

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: He spoke to me. He said, "Yes, but they have not yet got the permit."

Prabhupāda: That means there is no hope.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: What is the difficulty?

Hari-śauri: Well, generally they require six weeks, 'cause it's on the Chinese border.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: There's so many places on the Chinese border.

Hari-śauri: They have some protected areas. That's all. It's because there's a lot of missile bases and stuff up there. They have a lot of armament up there. They've probably got some big project going. [break]

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: ...the letterhead now for you from France, really nice.

Hari-śauri: Prabhupāda's seen it.

Prabhupāda: Where it is?

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Can I show you a copy? White. White also.

Prabhupāda: Some letterhead is already there, nice.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: This is from France.

Prabhupāda: That was also from France.

Hari-śauri: You've seen the blue onionskin. This is white.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: We have now blue and white. Bhagavān brought me the rest of it, brought the rest of it here, lot of it. It's very high class, with gold letters. Really nice.

Hari-śauri: Envelopes too?

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Envelopes also. The whole thing. It's good, because we're running short.

Hari-śauri: There's a whole bunch of that [indistinct].

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: You want me to start using that new type of letterhead that Bhagavān has brought? Should I start using it?

Prabhupāda: Nahī. So long you have got old stock, finish.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Finish. There's a lot of that.

Hari-śauri: There's quite a stock left in Calcutta yet.

Prabhupāda: In special case you can use.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: All right. [end]