All Glories to Parama Karuna Sri Sri Nitai Gaurachandra

Imminent Separation as
Srila Govinda Maharaj prepares to fly out

Caracas Venezuela, November 20, 2004

By Vaidehi Devi Dasi
We spent the last night of Srila Gurudev's stay in Venezuela joyfully chanting and visiting with the devotees that had just arrived from Columbia. They had a long trip with many obstacles. At one point they weren't going to make it but after waiting for one week at the border they were allowed to go through.
We all knew one thing: Srila Gurudev would leave at 5:30 the next morning and we had to be there to glorify his lotus feet. One by one groups and families of devotees arrived to the airport to say good-bye. It was a very funny thing to watch because the people at the airport must have thought it was some sort of invasion.
Left to right: Sankar two years old; Kanta Krishna Prabhu; and Haridas Prabhu. These devotees traveled six hours from Cumana to Caracas with their family to visit the Ashram.
The Colombian ladies and Kalindi Devi Dasi, extremely happy to be in Venezuela at last. Many devotees came by taxi, others in their own cars, while some devotees stayed at the airport overnight.
Someone suddenly yelled "He's here!" We all ran to the car to greet him. All of the sannyasi were taking their bags out of the car. Srila Gurudev exclaimed: "Oray baba!" while looking past us. I turned around and saw dozens of devotees running towards him.
Srila Gurudev was so happy smiling and waving the entire time. I heard several people that travel with him say that they had never seen him so happy about his devotees. He really loves the enthusiasm of the devotees in Venezuela.
As we entered the airport the voices of devotees chanting echoed off the walls and Gurudev's luminous personality purified the entire airport and filled it with color and life.
Everybody had a melting heart. Even the people working at the airport began to dance. Children, fathers, mothers, they kept looking at the devotees and couldn't help but smile and dance. The bliss was contagious.
His Divine Grace stopped and listened to the kirtan for a while. Everybody was taking many pictures -- even the onlookers.
We made our way to the elevator so that Srila Gurudev could sit in the V.I.P. lounge and wait for his passport check. Everybody piled into the three different elevators and ran up the escalators chanting. The doors opened, we arrived to the second floor and everybody rushed to Gurudev's elevator.
I caught Sripad Goswami Maharaj right as he was about to jump in. It was very funny because we saw Goswami Maharaj and immediately thought Gurudev was there. "No, no: that one!" He pointed at Gurudev's door.
Gurudev and his group entered the V.I.P. lounge while we cheered outside. As we were waiting several devotees were doing Kung-Fu, Yoga, and dancing to entertain each other and pass the time. The Venezuelan devotees are extremely animated.
As he was leaving Gurudev yelled: "Amita Shakti Devi Dasi ki jaya! Purujit Prabhu ki jaya!" and...
..."Antaryyami Prabhu ki jaya!" These devotees have completely dedicated themselves to Srila Gurudev to please him -- and have clearly succeeded!
 

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