“A hall of fame is a structure housing famous or illustrious individuals in a certain field, usually chosen by a group of electors. The meaning of “fame” has changed over the years, originally meaning “renown” as opposed to today’s more common meaning of “celebrity“.” – Wikipedia
Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra (SGGGPY) entered Konne village, a part of Bachannapet mandal on 27 December 2015. I was part of a team of devotees who travelled from Hyderabad to join the other team members to associate with them in their activities over the weekend. The night stay for the devotees numbering about 15 was arranged in Cherial town, hub for the third phase of the Yatra. This hall was part of a temple dedicated to Hanuman and the authorities there allowed us to stay in the premises on hearing about the mission. The devotees had made the premises their home for the next 7 days or so.
Every day after the village program the devotees would return to this hall to partake their prasadam and retire for the day which was mostly around 10:30 pm. When we joined the team for the Yatra we also had the pleasant experience of being put up in the temporary “home”. The experience was really soul-chilling.
The hall sized about 20’ x 20’, had a metallic rolling shutter and in the middle it had a mesh opening for ventilation purpose. This would have made an excellent accommodation in the summer time. Unfortunately when the Yatra team entered the third phase, the winter temperature had dipped to the lowest of the season. This is the time when everyone scouts for a cozy accommodation but the devotees had got a bone-rattling experience. We just had some carpets and to compound it further the devotees who generally slept in the bus, had also moved into the hall due to severe cold. As the night advanced, the chillness started seeping from the floor and all the warm clothing was of no avail. All our efforts to somehow steal a few hours of sleep was futile. The group included a 4-year old boy to an 80-year old devotee, all huddled together in a hall which also had groceries, cooking paraphernalia and personal baggage.
As there was no alternative everyone tried to steal some sleep. The only exit for the hall was through the shutter which had to be lifted every time one had to go out or come in. The devotees due to chillness started to wake up to answer nature calls right from 2 am. Whenever a devotee tried to lift the shutter, the rattling sound of the metal would make everyone wake up. This went on whenever a devotee went out or tried to return and pull down the shutter.
These experiences of the devotees were the most amazing part of the Yatra and relishable. One day the morning chill was so severe that all of us sat up and started chanting. It was a nice experience that by morning 4.30 am all the devotees were sitting in their beds and already chanting. This went on for about two hours till the sunrise. This was the “best of the chanting experiences we have had for long” said a devotee. So there is always reciprocation from the Lord in the most testing times!
Then it was time to go for the morning oblations; there was only one toilet and no walled room for bathing. One just had to take bath in the open chill weather including the 4-year old bhakta. He was almost screaming when the cold water touched his body. There was some relief from cold when the devotees used fresh water source coming directly from the well. The temple authorities gave full control of the starter-switch for the pump so that they could use as much water as required. Another mercy because the water requirement of the devotees is generally high.
After our morning prasadam, we left for our usual visit to the village covering about 10 kms for obtaining permissions and meeting the head of the village. We reached the house of the village sarpanch. He was a soft-spoken person and received us warmly. He offered to serve us some tea which we gently refused. We discussed about our mission and reasons that made IDVM-India to undertake this Yatra. On understanding the “welfare mission”, he immediately started calling some of his subordinates in the village for making necessary arrangements for the evening program. He made best of his efforts and the rest was to be accomplished by the Yatra team. We returned to the “Devotees Hall of Fame” to have our afternoon prasadam and make arrangements for the evening program.
The bus with deities, devotees and paraphernalia left for the venue at 1600 hrs. The place chosen was the panchayat office where the villagers congregate for any social events. However, due to narrow lanes and hanging overhead wires, the driver of the bus found it very difficult to maneuver the bus to the venue. Somehow he managed to take the bus to the venue with all dexterity.
The devotees on reaching the venue immediately took up their positions as a well-organized army. The deities darshan started, books put on display, cow products on sale, preaching and engaging the initial visitors mostly children in teaching mahamantra and even teaching them some baby steps to dance in the nagarsankirtan. Satyamadhav prabhu took up the role of a “story teller” and engaged himself in Krsna-katha. All the children flocked around him and their parents were watching from a distance the seriousness with which their wards were engaged. Sripati Prabhu started distributing the mahamantra card and then some devotees started the kirtan on a low key exclusively for the children numbering about 20. The children said that earlier-on some devotees had come to their village and handed over the mahamantra cards and distributed some books. They, however, said that the activity was very short and not so involving.
On enquiring about the uniqueness of the village it appeared that the village was known for weaving and some weavers were still working in the village. This triggered the camera team to look out for houses were weaving was going-on for making the documentary. We just asked for directions and were walking through the lanes when we heard the sound “tak-tak-tak” (the sound of shuttle moving through the warp) and figured out that a weaver was still on his loom. We knocked on his door and explained to him about our mission. He readily welcomed us into the house where we saw the family members engaged in various activities related to weaving. The male member was working on the loom. We took an interview of him. He was too willing to participate in whatever way in saving this dying tradition. The conversation with him showed us the total neglect of a divine occupation due to measly earnings. He said they got just 150 rupees with both husband and wife toiling for the whole day. Everything was controlled by the middlemen and they just worked as paid-labor. How the advancement of Kali-yuga has made the divine occupations a mere measly one so that the machine-era spreads. The glories of a weaver and his life were very aptly presented in a poem by a well-noted poetess Sarojini Naidu:
WEAVERS, weaving at break of day,
Why do you weave a garment so gay? . . .
Blue as the wing of a halcyon wild,
We weave the robes of a new-born child.
Weavers, weaving at fall of night,
Why do you weave a garment so bright? . . .
Like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green,
We weave the marriage-veils of a queen.
Weavers, weaving solemn and still,
What do you weave in the moonlight chill? . . .
White as a feather and white as a cloud,
We weave a dead man’s funeral shroud.
Thus reads a comment on the poem: “The simple act of weaving connects our life from birth to death, without clothing, we humans are reduced to the pre-human state. The poetess has expressed this importance of the weaver in our lives quite simply and eloquently.”
A few more devotees comprising Ramsharan prabhu and Haridas prabhu, Shyam Sundar prabhu, Ajamila prabhu, Shivram prabhu and his son also joined the Yatra. Haridas prabhu led the nagar-sankirtan, which lasted for about 45 minutes before we returned to the venue. Due to severe cold and open sky, initially the crowd was less but as the program progressed the number increased to about 200. Satyamadhav prabhu spoke on the need for chanting the Holy Name followed by Jananivas prabhu on cow protection, soil fertility, traditional crops and other various aspects of traditional living. He sought cooperation from the villagers and their leaders for reviving our traditional life-style, traditional foods, cropping patterns, etc. The villagers were becoming restless due to severe cold and the devotees screened the “Gau Vaibhavam” documentary and wound up the program with mahaprasadam.
The leaders were very happy for the attention the village had received and wanted many more such programs to be held again. The leaders assured to help the organizers in trying to revive the traditional practices as the modern agriculture methods were proving to be degrading.
We pray that all the austerities the devotees voluntary have been undergoing get sufficiently rewarded as the villagers start chanting the Holy Name and revive their traditional lifestyle based on daiva-varnasrama dharma which easily promotes divinity in one’s lives and the society around. The devotees know that the creaking sound of the rolling shutter in the hall is very insignificant when seen in the background of the shattering sound of AK-47, bombs and cries of wailing mothers, children, the parched land due to neglect of Bhudevi and the Go-mata. They know the panacea for all the problems is just in reviving their loving relationship with the Supreme Lord through the chanting of the Holy Name. They just want to serve Guru and Gauranga in this mission of preserving villages and whatever culture is remaining. The traditional villages are close to divinity in various ways–as the family is the smallest unit of Lord’s creation for nurturing so are villages the smallest unit for nourishing the various living species nestled around–both material and spiritually.
All glories to the brave soldiers who have left their warm and cozy homes for weeks on end with only one hope that their service would please Srila Prabhupada, especially on this auspicious occasion of ISKCON-50-year celebrations.
The organizers of the Yatra very profusely thank Dr. Satyanarayana, Eye Specialist, Cherial; Mr. Sudhakar, a social activist; and Mr. Kishan, ex-SI, an organic farming enthusiast, for all their support and encouragement and making available the hall for the accommodation during this phase of the Yatra.
Sri Govinda Go Gram Prachar Yatra ki jai!
Source: http://www.iskconvarnasrama.com/home/devotees-hall-of-fame-report-on-the-38th-village-yatra/
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