Kanka: A few days after Ratha-yatra there was a press conference in Berkeley with twenty or thirty reporters but hardly any devotees. I was sitting near Prabhupada’s vyasasana, and two of Prabhupada’s answers have always stuck in my mind. One reporter asked, “What will happen to the Movement in the United States when you die?” Srila Prabhupada immediately said, “I will never die. I live in my books.” Another reporter asked, “What is the purpose of these large carts?” Prabhupada’s eyes got big, and he said, “Large car means God is very great. He requires a very great car. Why should He go in a small car?”
I was in the sewing room when Jayatirtha was showing Srila Prabhupada around the new Berkeley temple. My two-year-old son, Krishna Kumar, ran into the sewing room saying, “Prabhupada’s here! Cookie! Prabhupada cookie!” Then Jayatirtha came in with Srila Prabhupada and said, “This is Kanka, and she is making canopies for the carts.” I said, “Srila Prabhupada, whenever my son sees you he says, ‘Cookie, cookie.’” Srila Prabhupada threw his head back, laughed, and said, “Yes, the way to make a friend is to give him a cookie.”
When Krishna Kumar, my first child, was six months old, we were at the old Laguna Beach temple that overlooked the ocean. The devotees had decided that during the lecture, small children should leave the temple room with their mothers. It was a very small temple room, and to leave you had to walk in front of the vyasasana. Srila Prabhupada was sitting there when Tulasi das, who was the president of the Los Angeles temple, asked all of the mothers with children to go out. I was hiding in the corner because I really wanted to hear the lecture. Tulasi das said, “Kanka, you have to take your baby out,” so I was the last mother to leave, and as I walked in front of the vyasasana, Srila Prabhupada said to me, “Where are you going?” Tulasi was sitting in front of the vyasasana, and I looked at Tulasi with a snarl in my eye and said, “He said I had to go out.” Srila Prabhupada said, “No, go sit down.” I sat down, and Krishna Kumar was very good during the entire lecture. In this lecture Prabhupada talked about the Garuda birds. He said Garuda is the king of the Garuda birds, which is a flock of birds that fly from planet to planet and lay their eggs in space. After the lecture I was sitting outside on the wall when Srila Prabhupada was walking to his quarters. He stopped in front of Krishna Kumar and me, smiled, and patted Krishna Kumar on the head, as if to say that he knew that he wouldn’t make any noise during the lecture.
