Monday, December 7th, 2009

A White Furry Night

Calgary, Alberta

The place just becomes a frozen wonder. At pre-dawn hours at 30 degrees below Celsius it is no surprise that everything is still and quiet. But wait! My eyes did catch a glimpse of a moving white ball in the distance at ground level. As I got closer it became obvious what it was- a massive white rabbit. It seemed he and I were the only animate anything at this time of day. Only I’m walking and he’s hopping. I’m chanting to gain peace. He’s moving to gain a piece of something-something to eat no doubt.

“Hello! And Haribol! My furry friend!”, I said.

No response. No reciprocation. In fact he went in the opposite direction. It’s understandable. I’m human and I’m bad (at least in his mind).

In the same neighbourhood, now in nighttime darkness I was driven by my Calgary host, Radha Madhava, and family to the home of a Bengali household for a gathering of Vaisnavas (devotees). People really got packed in. It makes for a cozy evening. Each time the door opened for a guest to enter our gathering room received an amazing dry ice effect from the outside air. Talk about ambiance.

It was a dramatical reading of “Krisha In Indraprastha City” that kept our gathering focused. At the end I made a pitch for distributing Bhagavad-Gitas. I held high in hand a Gita and challenged the group if any one would volunteer to make “the cold sale”, so to speak, by enticing the next door neighbour to accept the book and also offer something for the printing of a new book.

A man out of the crowd volunteered. He took the Gita, put on his jacket and went boldly for the mercy as we applauded his boldness. We were left in suspense. Our volunteer came back all smiles and showed up empty armed except for a donation from the recipient. We all cheered him on his first attempt at this.

The evening program wrapped up rather late up to the time white rabbits take over the night as humans take their rest.

7 Km