Tuesday, July 28, 2009

KulimeLA LIVE - Day 2: Heating Up

KulimeLA LIVE
Day 2: Heating Up

People from all over the world are flying in by the day, by the hour - I can already feel the electricity in the air. Waves of people will arrive tomorrow, and the KulimeLA festival will officially begin in the evening.

Shakuntala gave me the service of dressing Lord Jagannath for the swanky Gala event at the Ford Ampitheater on Friday. So this morning, I jumped in a van with my long-time friend, Krishna Devata, to whirl through the fabric district of Los Angeles.

What a tornado of color and insanity! Fabrics of every size, shape, and color imaginable festooned from shop windows and waved from the street. Ethnic and persuasive shopkeepers beckoned us into their shops. I was transported back to India. By the end of the day, Krishna Devata and I had secured all of our fabulous wares, but I was exhausted.

By the time we beat traffic back to the temple, I barely had time to grab a bite to eat before I then began intense discussions about festival logistics that lasted all the way until I retired for the night, just now.

I was in the middle of one such heated discussion when Radhanath Swami walked right up to our group to say hello. I was a little breathtaken to see him here. I had invited him to KulimeLA more than a month ago, but he had told me that he would be in India - because of his book launch - for the dates of the Mela. But somehow, he's here.

Somehow!

By his presence and by his blessings, I pray that this Mela will be a success in serving the Vaishnavas with tolerance and humility.

1 comment:

ramesh sadasivam said...

I like to see more of photography, poetry and posts like you wrote about Taj Mahal. So, I couldn't vote there.

Happy Kuli MelA!

See, how soon you got to dress Krishna! Just a fortnight! Hmmm...

:)


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