Our first sight of Radha Kunda

Today was quite a day. First off Kavitha, Jaya Sita and I missed the 7:30 bus to Radha Kunda because it was stuffed to the max before we made it there. Not wanting to miss our last chance to Radha Kunda for the disappearance festival of Bhakti Swarup Damodar Maharaja, Kavitha and I sat on the bus for an hour and a half waiting its departure. Just 15 minutes prior to take off, I decided to take her bag to temple, fill her water bottle and get a maha treat. Uh oh. When I came back to the bus it was gone gone gone. I looked up and down the street, shrugged my shoulders and thought, 'I am in India...' Actually, it was quite humorous for me. I was trying to go to Radha Kunda anyway, the most sacred place in the universe. How could I expect it to be a piece of cake? But I could only stand for a moment before the sweetest family popped out of no where in the same situation. The mom is Indian but looks just like JLo! Within seconds an auto-rickshaw puttered up, prices where negotiated, and the group of us along with 2 other ladies squeezed in for 30 rupees each, about 70 cents. At one point a Vietnamese devotee and myself bumped heads so hard my brain had to pretty much start over from scratch. Perfect for visiting Radha Kunda! After that me and one of the little girls jumped in the back, held on for dear life, and watched the field after field pass by us. Braja is glowing. This is such a great time of year, and everything is simply gorgeous.

The best is yet to come...give me a few days. =)

Just a great day...

The other day my friend Kavitha and I were wondering off to class when BV Madhava Swami asked us if we would like to do some service for Tulasi Devi. Wahoo! Today the two of us, along with Jaya Sita made our way over to the goshala gardens for some ecstatic painting of the new Tulasi house Maharaja is creating. He is planning on having a grand opening event by the first week of November, so there's quite some work to be done. Today we got to paint green leaves and purple grapes. My sari is now officially ready for the dirtiest chores.

Before had we spent some amazing quality time with our local Brijbasi family. I found out today that they are actually Bengali's who moved here from Mayapur about 6 years ago. Because I speak three Hindi words and Purnima, the kids' mother, speaks 4 words of English, we were delighting in our translator today. Kavitha spent two hours with us, going between so that we could talk about life, the kids, and how much we are going to miss one another. It's hard not to count down the days. In tears, we conveyed how wonderful this past 3 months has been. It goes to show that the real language is that of the heart. We've shared so many laughs, so many joyous memories, and barely a word that was ever spoken could be understood with the mind. It could only go straight to the heart. Here are the latest pictures, my absolute favorite yet. The big picture at the top is one of Bapi, the oldest son, age 10, through the new stain-glass at Tulasi's house. He was painting, and from the other side of the glass I took a picture of his face. What you see is his eye on the right, and my camera and face on the left. The children are also becoming excellent photographers. I am completely impressed by them, in every way.

An Afternoon with "Swami Seal" Indradyumna Maharaja

More fun with my Vrindavan family...

The Crazy Kaithal Ratha Yatra and Pilgrimage to Kuruksetra, Bhisma Kunda, Surya Kunda, and Brahma Sarovaro