Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Hard Work Gets Results

Atlanta, Georgia

The walk at the park system along Ponce de Lion Ave is really cool. It’s the humidity that drives one away from a trail, and that’s before the sun rises.

As far as temple/mission oriented services are concerned, I was asked to give the class from the book Bhagavatam. I tend to place a little piece of my historical self into the presentation, making it a little more personable as I interweave it into the Vedic philosophy. It was about my early childhood, my shyness, and how Krishna Consciousness helped me gain confidence. Today was also the premier performance of The Three Lives of Bharat, with a new cast composed of a pick of young people who will be part of our road show for the next month.

In the production I have also incorporated my early life’s experience, which is witnessing the sometimes intense arguments. On the farm we saw pigs wallowing in the mud and watched a cow give birth. I regard these experiences as precious, as something to have learned from, and something to apply to later on in life. For me, it’s the dramas.

The presentation held at the Atlanta temple was well received by a devotional audience. The story originating from Canto 5 of the Bhagavatam, traces the three consecutive lives of a great king. In the opening scene, we portray the soul’s journey going through different species. Fish, chimps, cows, etc.

In any event, everyone worked hard in the performance and in the five day rehearsals preceding it. The grainless feast to follow the performance was 'lekker', the South African word for delicious, as our co-director to the play would say. Laghu Hari is also an actor and the puppet maker for the show and he adds so much to the production. My gratitude knows no limits for his full on energy supply.

7 Km