UNEXPECTED STOPOVER

Friday, March 27th, 2026

Atlanta, Georgia

Vedasara, yoga teacher and friend, resident of Atlanta, suggested we walk along the Freedom Park Trail and visit the memorial of Martin Luther King. As everyone knows, King, was a peace fighter against the prejudice and racism that pervaded the psychological landscape of America and worldwide. He had a dream and like his idol, Gandhi, was proactive at getting out that message. In 1968 he was assassinated and so now, in his memory, the public pay homage to the great soul at this site.

First of all, I was not supposed to spending time in Atlanta. It was only meant to be a brief stop over, but because of the late arrival of the aircraft to Toronto for pick up, I and so many other passengers missed their connecting flights. Mine was for Johannesburg. Vedasara got back to me after a left message saying, “I’m in town. Let’s do something together since you have the day.”

Well, that day was set for prasadam and a walk along Ponce de Leon Blvd. where a group of three houses are owned by ISKCON. This place pulled at my heart strings. It was 51 years ago that I first physically met Prabhupada who was on his pilgrimage across America. Many of his students from the U.S. and Canada converged here when he gave us some lessons and amongst them taught a song, “Parama Karuna” a bhajan describing the two avatars, Chaitanya and Nityananda. This was special.

On two fronts, my visit to Atlanta, a significant place to the Civil War, a gateway to the South, was memorable because of MLK and of course Prabhupada. I boarded the plane, a day late, and took the 15 hour flight to Joburg.

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU

12,872 FOOTSTEPS