The Governor of Geneva: If everybody joins your movement, what will happen to the economy? Guru-Gauranga: On May 29, 1974 Prabhupada landed in Geneva and was accompanied by Satsvarupa Goswami and Nitai. We picked Prabhupada and his team up at the airport and brought him to the temple. I was very busy with all the arrangements for Prabhupada’s meetings and programs and for the official reception of Srila Prabhupada by the Governor of Geneva. I was unaware of the fact that Lilavati dasi, a disciple of Prabhupada’s, had previously arrived to Geneva to do typing for Prabhupada. About three days into Prabhupada’s visit, Prabhupada asked about Lilavati. I didn’t even know that she was in the temple so I went to inquire about her. It turned out that Lilavati had arrived sick with hepatitis from India and had to go directly to the hospital. I came back to Prabhupada’s room and said, “Prabhupada, she’s still in the hospital,” like I actually knew what was going on. Srila Prabhupada said, “We will go and visit Lilavati in the hospital. Make arrangements immediately.” I rushed out and told the devotees, “We’re all going to the hospital. Get the cars ready for Prabhupada and the devotees. Is there maha prasadam for her? Does she have Prabhupada’s books?” Finally when everything was ready I went back into Srila Prabhupada’s room and said, “Prabhupada, we’re ready now.” Then he said, “Very good. Now go.” And Prabhupada stayed in the temple and sent everybody else to the hospital to visit with Lilavati to give her prasadam and association. What I take from that obviously is that Prabhupada remembered his servants and cared for them. Prabhupada felt for them and he missed them when they were not around. And he knew who everybody was. Srila Prabhupada’s sole visit to Switzerland was from May 29 to June 8, 1974. He arrived in the morning and with special authorization we got to greet him on the tarmac along with the Swiss national television crew. That afternoon we had an official reception at the city hall of Geneva, the Hotel de Ville, where Srila Prabhupada was going to be welcomed by the Governor of Geneva. Sometimes devotees think it was the mayor of Geneva, like in Paris where it was the vice-mayor, but in Geneva it was the Governor of the Canton of Geneva. What I thought was significant about the Governor was that he addressed Srila Prabhupada as “Your Divine Grace”. For non-devotees it’s not the easiest way to address Prabhupada, but he minced no words. With respect he said, “Your Divine Grace” in the beginning and he said, “Your Divine Grace” at the end of his welcome speech. Then Prabhupada gave a response to the Governor as he talked about varnashram dharma. He explained how a perfect society is organized and how it functions. At the end of Prabhupada’s talk there was a small conversation between Prabhupada and the Governor. The Governor asked about a concern that he was feeling. He said, “Your Divine Grace, if everybody joins your movement, what will happen to the economy?” Going forward about ten months, it was time for the Mayapur festival in 1975. I went to India with a few Swiss devotees, and we had booked our flight through Bombay to Calcutta. When we arrived in Bombay we immediately drove by taxi from the airport to the temple in Juhu. Prabhupada was just leaving the compound for a morning walk with an entourage of devotees. We told the taxi driver to stop and we jumped out and did a one hundred eighty degree turn to go on the morning walk with Prabhupada. Everyone was talking about how Srila Prabhupada was about to leave for the Mayapur festival, but no one knew what flight Srila Prabhupada was taking. Everyone was eager to find out what flight it was so they could book their tickets on the same flight. But by the time it was known what flight Srila Prabhupada was on, the flight was fully booked and no one could get on. However, I looked at our tickets from Switzerland, and by pure serendipity we were on Prabhupada’s flight. When the devotees took Prabhupada through the airport with a rip-roaring kirtan, they couldn’t get past security, but we did. Everyone was saying, “What is it with those devotees? I tried but I couldn’t get on the flight. How did they pull that off?” We went to the small waiting room with Prabhupada, and I found myself with Prabhupada and only his secretary and the two other devotees from Switzerland. We could hear the kirtan in the distance but that was it. I decided I had to be very Krishna conscious because Prabhupada might notice me and I didn’t want to look anything but Krishna conscious. So I was chanting my japa pacing back and forth in the lounge area. As I turned to pace back I saw that Prabhupada was calling me. It was almost like in the movies where I had to look in both directions to see who he was talking to, because I couldn’t believe Srila Prabhupada was calling me. Prabhupada gestured for me to come over and he tapped the seat right next to him for me to sit down. Prabhupada asked me, “So how is the Governor of Geneva? Is he still worried about the Swiss economy if everyone joins our movement?” At that moment I realized that Srila Prabhupada knew who I was because it’s not that Srila Prabhupada always called us by our name. When we were in his presence sometimes you wonder, “Does Prabhupada really know who I am?” What I learned from that experience was that Prabhupada not only remembered me, he not only remembered the Governor, he remembered everything that had been said and he also remembered that that was the service that I performed for him. Prabhupada could pick up exactly where we had left off, the same conversation, knowing exactly who was doing what for him. That gave me an enormous amount of inspiration, that truly no service is unrecognized by Srila Prabhupada. —Guru-Gauranga