Episode 19: The Return Parade - Back to Albert Street

“Perfect accounts means every information regarding financial and stock situation must be ready for immediate reference and not a single farthing should be wasted.” - Letter to: Rupanuga -- Gorakhpur 19 February, 1971

“Also I want that all centers follow the following procedure for handling the money. Whatever income is there, every cent must be given to the treasurer. Immediately he recorded it in the book. Then daily he deposited everything in the bank. For the expenditures, he withdrew from the bank the petty cash by check signed by himself and the President. Then the expenditures were checked by the President to see how the money was being spent. The important thing is that all monies must be given to the treasurer and he recorded it and every day deposited everything in the bank. And whatever was spent that also was withdrawn from the bank. This would stop the embezzling that was going on. Please arrange for this and inform me.” Letter to: Satsvarupa: Vrindaban 9 September, 1975

Emulating the same procedure followed in Jagannatha Puri, eight days later it had been scheduled that Lord Jagannatha would ride his chariot back to the Calcutta temple. During that interim Jayapataka Maharaja had asked if I could make all the necessary repairs on the rath so the cart would look fully restored and the return trip would not be so embarrasing. At first I was almost crazy enough to agree to try, but fortunately I knew in my heart that attempting to do so would probably kill me and I would still fail. The minimal that would have to be done was:

1. Scout out a new axle
2. Draw what needed to be changed
3. Ship the axle to the Pikhana industrial shop on the other side of the Hugli
4. Contract them to do an overnight rush job
5. Get it back in time to fit it to the cart
6. Repair the entire front end of the chariot that looked like a bomb hit the deck.
7. Pray hard every day that nothing goes wrong along any step in the process.

Even if all of that got done properly I would still have to address the fact that it still would not have any brakes. What kept coming up for me was that I couldn’t think of anything that got done quickly in India. As I discussed it with Jayapataka Maharaja he understood what he was asking for was more than anyone could deliver under the circumstances we faced. 

I suggested that we rehire the same tow truck guy to escort us back to 3 Albert Road and Jayapataka Maharaja graciously agreed. With that I promised when I got back to Mayapur I would completely rethink the entire chariot for the 1979 parade with the intent of making it as strong as a tank, as maneuverable as a baby carriage, more majestic than ever and capable of stopping reliably on demand. I wasn’t sure at the time how I would do all that, but I was recalling the mantra I shared with Jayananda prabhu and trusted it. “Lord Jagannath would give me the intelligence to do it.”

Before returning to Mayapur I gathered up all the receipts I had carefully recorded into a green accounting ledger showing the exact detail of what was spent for every part of the cart. I turned it all in to the temple accountants along with the few rupees I had left over to balance the books right to the exact paisa. I thought nothing of it as it seemed to me that was the only proper way to handle the Laxmi that I had been entrusted with. Several weeks later when I returned to Calcutta for other business the accountants went out of their way to find me, and share that in all the years since the Mandira opened in 1971, nobody had ever accounted for temple funds with that type of vigilant accuracy. They were absolutely astonished that I had even broken down the expenses in various categories for accounting purposes and provided not only the totals for each of them but even all the 7 paisa tram tickets that I had handed to them in the envelope titled “Transportation Expenses.”

For more details E-mail at : mdjagdasa@gmail.com

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