The first time Prabhupada arrived that I saw him was July 20, 1972.
He stayed for five days in France.
And Bhagavan had just come.
Hansadutta was still technically the GBC of France, and Harivilas was the temple president.
So we all went out to Orly Airport. There was no Charles de Gaulle, to the best of my recollection. We all went out to Orly, and it was packed.
There were up to 200 devotees, if you can believe it, because the German devotees came.
Do you remember the arrival of the German devotees? They all came in these fancy Mercedes-Benz, Hanomag-Henschel, and Citroën vans.
And we were just driving around in a bunch of broken-down Volkswagen Kombis, you know. I was thinking, “Wow, these guys—they’re really together!”
And they came because Prabhupada wasn’t going to Germany. So, you know the saying: if Muhammad can’t go to the mountain, the mountain has to come to Muhammad.
So they all came to see Prabhupada, and yeah, it was always a big high point—Prabhupada’s European summer tour.
“Where will Prabhupada be going? How do we get there? What’s the closest place?”
So Prabhupada came, and everybody was paying dandavats all over the airport. It was surreal.
The devotees were lined up in two rows, and Prabhupada came walking, like the victor of some campaign that was just starting.
Then Prabhupada—I don’t know who arranged it, probably Harivilas—there was a press conference in the VIP salon at Orly Airport.
There was a vyasasana for Prabhupada to sit on, and the press was there.
I remember particularly Radio France or something like that was there. The journalist asked a lot of questions.
Anyway, Prabhupada spoke about the basics and then opened it up for questions.
I don’t know how it happened, because I was really on Jotirmayi Mai’s turf. We didn’t mention her before, but it was really her turf.
And when I say that, I mean she was a very erudite, dedicated senior devotee. She did all the interpreting and translating.
But somehow I got that gig.
I have no idea how that happened. I became Prabhupada’s interpreter at Orly Airport.
Somebody—I think it was Bharadvaja or somebody—took a picture of that.
So when the press started asking questions—you know how they are—they always want to ask what they want to ask.
Prabhupada leaned over and said, “Tell them to ask about the philosophy.”
No matter how many times I told them in French, “You should ask about the philosophy,” it was almost like the more I asked, the less inclined they were to do it.
They thought they had found some kind of beast, you know, and they were going to discover something we didn’t want them to find because we were telling them, “Ask about the philosophy.”
So the journalist says, “So… you were married before?”
And Prabhupada said, “Yes, I was married before.”
He said, “Ah! Did you have children before?”
Prabhupada was looking at me like, “Didn’t you tell him?” I mean, that was the look.
Then he said, “Yes, I had children before.”
“How many children did you have?”
So at this point Prabhupada decided he had to take over the way things were going.
He said, “Many children.”
They had their little pads, at least a few of them, and they’re scribbling away:
“Many children…”
You know, they’re writing the article later on, or they’re going to broadcast it on the radio.
Then one of them said, “How many children is ‘many’?”
And Prabhupada said, “Hundreds.”
At that point the devotees in the room got it. Everybody got it.
The devotees started laughing, and the journalists were still scribbling away, completely oblivious.
Then Prabhupada said:
“And that was without my wife.”
(Laughter)
(Applause)
And what a thrill it was to translate all of this!
It was unbelievable. Prabhupada was toying with them because they wouldn’t cooperate.
Then you could see them look up from their pads, and the light bulb went on.
They realized that these disciples—the boys and girls—were the children.
So that was the first time I met Prabhupada.
Hare Krishna.
Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=119249
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