Page 39 - GOTIL (ENG) Sample

Village Life in Bangladesh 7

for them to see; then Bhagavad-gītā in German, French,
and Spanish. As we continued showing the Gītā in more
than thirty languages, the people would start murmuring
in increasing amazement. Last of all we would show
the Arabic Gītā, which would cause a hubbub because
Bangladesh is dominated by Muslims. After the program
many people would demand to see the Arabic Gītā up
close, to verify that it really existed.

Every night we would show the movie of ISKCON activities
around the world, and whenever the scene of frying puris
in a large pan of ghee came, the crowd would inevitably
gasp and murmur. Ghee was a luxury; they could not
imagine having gallons of it for deep frying.

The programs would almost invariably start late and often
continue throughout the night. In Bangladesh there really
is no concept of starting anything on time. When we
would ask what time our program should begin, we’d be
told, “Toward evening” or “After everyone has come,” as
if it were obvious. In Bengal the time to begin a function
is when everybody has arrived and settled comfortably.
However much we tried for a fixed time, the program
would begin only when everyone was present and ready.
But after everyone had come no one was in a hurry to
leave. They quite expected to stay up all night if there was
something religious and entertaining going on.

People came to know about our programs by word of
mouth. News traveled from village to village, and folks