45
San Franciso, California
With a town named after such a saint, the place can’t be all that bad. At Golden Gate Park on John F. Kennedy Drive, the chariots rolled on their 45th anniversary. Following the joyful parade was the Festival of India layout of tents, trinkets, and food. Gurudas, a participant of the very first event was the master of ceremonies on the stage located at what was known as ‘Hippie Hill’. Srila Prabhupada, his guru, had sat at this very spot singing with the free spirited boys and girls of the time. Over the mic, Gurudas made a point of it, “He sat right there!”.
The historical landmark is actually tucked away from most park browsers. Of all in attendance I would give a guestimation, that the crowd is 95% us, meaning, members of the Krishna community.
It was an honour to meet a spiritual sister, the student of Prabhupada, who was walking along side her two great grandkids. Believe it or not, we are looking at 4 generations of Hare Krishnas. It was an honour for me to stroll with the two youngsters hand in hand, for a few yards.
It was another sweater day, damp and chilled. I felt for our male actors, some of whom portrayed bare chested palanquin carriers for His Magesty, King Rahugana, a character in our Three Lives of Bharat Drama. The actors have come to know with some experience now, that putting on a show involves some tapasya, austerity. Austerity has been said to be the wealth of the brahmin, and so it’s not all that bad to taste what visionaries are supposed to experience in order to be strong.
Strength of body, mind and character are good targets to hit for all persons and at all times.
9 Km
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