Radhanath Swami. He knows how to releave you.

In 2009 Radhanath Swami’s autobiography The Journey Home was published. Fascinated by the book, and convinced that it had the potential to add value to society, I brainstormed—how to spread awareness of the book? Though shy by nature, I decided to try in my own way.

I requested a friend, a very famous Radio Jockey, to have Radhanath Swami as a featured guest on his show. He felt it was an honor.  We fixed the date 3 August 2009 for the interview.

When August came closer I realized that the interview date lay amidst a cramped schedule: on 1^st August Radhanath Swami was to arrive in Mumbai where thousands awaited his audience; on the 2^nd was the Sunday Program at Radhagopinath temple where he was scheduled to discourse; and then on, he would be busy with the upcoming grand India Book Launch of The Journey Home that was to be held only days later. Thus 3^rd August, the day fixed for the radio show—had got crushed in the middle.  I grew tense.  Pulling Radhanath Swami out of his busy schedule for the Radio Show was to cause him strain—and I hated to do that.

Perhaps he sensed my tension. And his soft heart raced for every opportunity to relieve me of that. On 2^nd, I visited him with a proposal: was it okay if the RJ came to his room to interview him, rather than he having to go to the studio? After thinking for a while, he responded, “It will be better if you could liberate me from this place.”  Through that one line he liberated me from my thought that going to the studio caused him inconvenience. It was decided that we would stick to our schedule and drive to the studio the next day.

The next day as we rode, the car was heated up with discussions about the upcoming book launch. I was silent, while remorse lingered in my heart. He is already strained. Perhaps I should have rescheduled the show in a way that didn’t cause him extra strain. Out of the blue, Radhanath Swami quipped, “And towards the end of the book launch, Sankirtan shall perform solo dance with spotlights focused on him.” His body rocked in laughter, as everyone in the car joined him in the joke; all knew how shy I was. Seeing him laugh, I was elated. Thus in a moment, Radhanath Swami had the remorse in me ebb away.

–Sankirtan Das

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