SCSM Reading Room

From: Srila Giri Maharaja
Date: April 5, 2010
Subject: Newsflash!

So, I've got jet lag and can't get to sleep. I finally doze off about 11 PM. A little after midnight I hear a comotion, some talking, locks being unlocked, doors opening, luggage being moved and so forth. I know Prabhu Yudhamanu is supposed to be arriving around this time & will be staying in the VIP room at the other end of the hall near to Srila Gurudeva's room in the Kolkata Sevaka Bhavan. I figure it's him settling in to get some rest like me before leaving for Navadwipa later in the morning.

I have to leave with some devotees at 7:15 AM and I need an hour our two to pack so I'm trying desperately to get some sleep before the alarm goes off at 4:30 AM so I can get to Mangala Aroti before I start to pack.

It's touch and go. I doze a little and then wake up sharply every hour on the hour. 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock. Doze, awake, doze, awake. I finally decide if I can't sleep, let me try to do something productive so I pull out my iPod to listen to a tape of Srila Gurudeva. Just as I put in the earbuds I hear some more commotion in the distance. It's not so clear because I'm listening to the iPod. Then silence, I figure whatever it was has been sorted out.

Then I hear Sriman Yudhamanyu pounding on my door calling Maharaja, Maharaja. Now this had happened a year ago when I was going through all the recordings of Srila Sridhara Maharaja to prepare them for the website. I was listening to them day and night for maybe 18 to 20 hours a day, and even in my sleep. My ears were getting sore from using the earbuds so much so I was using a small speaker system Sripada Goswami Maharaja loaned me. So I'm playing the tapes at a volume loud enough to hear the softly spoken words of his Divine Grace, and it's about 2 AM. I didn't think the sound would carry much beyond my room. Suddenly someone is knocking on my door Maharaja, Maharaja. But, I was just across the hall from Sripada Asharama Maharaja who was sometimes needed in the middle of the night to replace Sruta Srava so that someone was always with Srila Gurudeva. In the echo chamber which is this stucco over brick hallway it's not always clear who's door is being knocked upon and where most of the rooms are occupied by sannyasis, it's not clear which one is being called.

So, I thought Sripada Ashrama Maharaja was being called by Yudhamanyu Prabhu but Ashrama Maharaja was not responding. Then I heard Yudhamanyu say, "Maharaja, you've go to turn down that music, it's keeping everyone up." I'm pretty sure he said music, which puzzled me a bit since it was Srila Sridhara Maharaja's voice. At any rate that caught my attention so I went to the door to talk to Yudhamanyu. He was saying, "Please Maharaja it's so loud I can't sleep." This also surprised me because there were several walls separating his room from mine. At any rate if, he hears it, he hears it, so I apologized and told him I would try to keep the volume down and use earphones as much as I could.

Zoom forward to the early morning hours of April 5, 2010 a similar knock at my door from the same person just referred to calling "Maharaja, Maharaja". My first thought is that he must want me to turn down "the music" (But it's just coming from earbuds. Could his ears be that sensitive?) Then his calls became more frantic, "Maharaja it's an emergency, it's a real emergency, come help me!"

I got a gumpsha and threw it over the long johns I had been sleeping in and ran to the door. Yudhamanu was standing outside looking very excited I thought maybe someone was having a heart attack or something. He then told me the problem. "Maharaja, there's a fire in my room, come quick!, I'm afraid it could burn down the building." I was not convinced it was that dangerous. The building is almost entirely brick covered by cement plaster, not the best fuel for a fire.

But, we ran to his room and, sure enough the wall on the opposite side of the room was engulfed in flame. The room was full of thick black smoke that was so heavy I could hardly see anything except the fire itself. I stood at the door for a moment quickly analyzing the situation. Was the fire likely to break out suddenly and engulf the whole room? It didn't look likely. For now it seemed to be contained to an area about four feet wide and running from the floor to the ceiling. Yudhamanyu Prabhu seemed to think we should just get everyone out of the building because the fire was too big for us to put out. It didn't look that hopeless to me and I thought we should at least try as best we could.

That's all I can write for now. I'm leaving for Navadwipa in an hour and have to get my bags packed to go.

To prevent too much anxiety, the readers should know, no one was injured, and the building did not burn down, the fire was contained to the room. Yudhamanyu prabhu went to sleep in another room and the fire damage will be cleaned up when time permits.

Photos to follow with the next installment.

To keep abreast of all the Math news as it happens, keep your browser pointed to scsmathnj.com. "The Real Truth, Fair and Balanced."

Giri Maharaja, your roving reporter, signing off from the Sevaka Bhavan, Dum Dum Park, Kolkata, India.