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On the flight to Sydney, Prabhupada carefully carried the bouquet that little Janaka had given him. A dozen Sydney devotees greeted Prabhupada and his party in transit with the sweet fragrance of burning incense, an exuberant kirtana, a large, fragrant garland of jonquils and sandalwood paste applied to Prabhupada's forehead with a pink rose.

The devotees escorted Srila Prabhupada to the press lounge, where they had arranged an interview with a reporter from The Sydney Morning Herald. The devotees placed a silver tray of strawberries, mandarin segments, mango slices and sweets made from chickpea flour, laddhus, before him, with a silver jug and goblet of water.

Lenore Nicklin, a young Sydney journalist, was respectful and submissive. Prabhupada appeared to appreciate her mood and offered her prasadam from his own plate. She thanked him, commenting on how she especially liked the laddhu.

In the course of the interview, Prabhupada explained to Lenore that he was on the way from a successful Ratha-yatra festival in Melbourne to another two to be held in Chicago and San Francisco. He informed her of the Reverend Powell's recent decree to his parishioners that they should feel "no alarm" from the Hare Krsnas. He also told her of his successful dialogue with priests and scientists.

Prabhupada happily described to her the daring rescue from the burning building. "We are practical," he quipped, "not theoretical." Lenore laughed with him.

"Is the movement growing?" asked Lenore.

Prabhupada raised his eyebrows. "Oh, yes. It is growing. Paris, Rome, New Zealand, Holland, Germany -- everywhere. Krsna consciousness means blissful life. We have no moroseness -- simply jubilation."

And what did His Divine Grace think of the young Masarati-driving Guru Maharaji of the Divine Light Mission?

"He is nonsense. He is simply bluffing. He presses people's eyes and then they see the light. We are not such fools to think that that is God."

Lenore had noted Prabhupada's sober countenance as he entered Sydney airport. "Your Grace, when you got off the plane you looked very grave. Why was that?"

Srila Prabhupada replied that he was always thinking of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and since Krsna was so great, "naturally we become grave".

"Do you ever smile?" asked Lenore.

In reply to this question, Srila Prabhupada, still thinking of Krsna, smiled broadly, showing his teeth.

Lenore had one last question. Did Srila Prabhupada believe in reincarnation?

Prabhupada had a twinkle in his eye as he answered. "It is a difficult subject matter that reporters are not expected to know. It is a great science."

Lenore nibbled on her laddhu, and said no more.


- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu