Malati reached Radha-kunda last Saturday and brought me up to date on the news on Sunday. Guruji was still in Calcutta, and was due to arrive during the upcoming week. While doing Radha-kunda parikrama, she met Shyamala Dada, who had instructed us in the elementaries of kirtan and raga during our last visit. Dadaji invited us over for a visit whenever I would arrive at Radha-kunda.

Sanatan Baba, an affectionate sadhu with whom we had the priviledge of spending quite some time the last time over at parikrama and in deep discussions, was happy to see Malati come over. He wished I would have been there too, as a tyagi speaking with a lady is somewhat of an inconvenience in the face of public opinion. I wish I were, but work's holding me back until the 5th. Baba is responsible for having us start learning Bengali. He had so much to say, and our choices were to either miss it all or to start learning, and fast!

Malati reports that three flavors of bugs are walking on the computer screen as she chats with me on Yugal's PC. It's dark, the electricity is off and has been for a good part of the day. Yugal has some practical topics to cover with me. He's been working hard on producing more material for his JayaSriRadhe Archive site.

Malati seems to have gotten a good working grasp of Bengali, though she's pretty lost with Sanskrit-derived words. I'm the complete opposite. A Bengali lady had begun to explain something to her and Yugal's wife, Radhika, and she had replied in her best Bengali, "I'm sorry but I don't speak English. Could you please say that in Bengali?" People love it when you know a bit of the language. Anyone who is serious about becoming more integrated into the Gaudiya Vaishnava culture should strive to learn at least a bit of the language.