9978063483?profile=RESIZE_400xDuring one Ratha-yatra in New York where both Prabhupada and Jayananda attended, I hired a professional film crew to document the entire event. It was a random thing I did just so I could take it back with me to India and show everyone there. In India we had a portable briefcase projector called a Fairchild that was ideal for viewing. It would pop open and people could watch movies right on their desk or we could flip the lens and reflect it on a large sheet for the villagers.
When I did return to Madras with the film I was able to show it to Srila Prabhupada and he really liked it. I was very happy I could please him. The first thing he said was, “You know, they think we’re CIA in Bengal.” He said, “How would people think we’re CIA and put on a Ratha-yatra in Manhattan? What CIA would put on a Ratha-yatra in Manhattan?” Prabhupada said to me, “Would you mind going to Bengal and show this in every town and village?” I never thought of that since I was totally entrenched in Madras. When Prabhupada asked me to go Bengal I said, “Srila Prabhupada, whatever you want.” The way Prabhupada asked me was just the epitome of humility. It wasn’t a directive, “Go to Bengal.”
I went to Bengal and went village to village from the Bay of Bengal, to Darjeeling to Assam. We showed the movie on screens and had reporters attend as well. We were traveling on the boat program and we were also distributing Gitar Gans. I wrote a letter to Srila Prabhupada that said we had just distributed sixteen thousand Gitar Gans in one month. Prabhupada wrote a letter back stating, “That is very results.” I will always remember that, “That is very results.” We were ecstatic that we could please him and serve him in separation.

Source: https://dandavats.tumblr.com/post/672356710630998016/cia-would-put-on-a-ratha-yatra-in-manhattan

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