Burlavaripalem village happened to be the 48th one in the Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra series. It is a sleepy village situated at a distance of about six kilometers from the ocean. It’s a small village with around 2000 population. The village has a mix of modern and old mud-and-straw houses. Agriculture is the main occupation of the villagers here. One very special feature of the village people is their self-sufficiency in the growth of vegetables. Here almost everybody grows their own vegetables and the extra is sold in other villages and towns. It seems even a millionaire in the village grows his own food and goes to sell them as a custom. This village is known for growing many varieties of leafy vegetables.
Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra devotees reached the village in the afternoon and began with putting up of the book table. The Yatra devotees also took the first opportunity to strike a conversation with the villagers. Fortunately there was good response. Out of love and respect many villagers offered different items like flowers, vegetables, fruits, grains and whatever they could to the gram sankirtan devotee party. This welcome was so much that at the end of the program there were three sacks of vegetables! Children were the first to assemble at the venue beside Sri Rama Temple at Panchayat office. We changed the strategy of attracting the people and began by projecting ‘Little Krishna’ animation movie. It worked and people came eagerly to the venue with anticipation. Once everybody assembled, go-puja was performed with wide participation from all pockets.
Lecture was also spiced up to appeal to the general villagers. In order to make it more effective, it was supported by different appropriate powerpoint shows. It drew good crowd and the people sat patiently with interest and patience. At the end of the session, some young men who were very impressed by the program offered to assist us in different errands and requested the devotees to organize for such regular programs in the village. Around 40 villagers signed up for go raksha sankalpa (Oath for cow protection) and around 8 people filled the samskara patra. Before we left, the villagers offered us hot cow milk and fruits while bidding us a warm send off.
Srila Prabhupada ki Jai!
Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra ki Jai!!
Reported by: Hari Kirtan Das from Hyderabad
