Already at my very first meeting with Dr Vishwanath the idea of conducting a preaching program at the Hospital had entered my mind. I had given him an outlook on a devotee's attitude to death, describing how the soul simply moves on to another existence, and it had been Dr Vishwanath who had asked in amazement whether I would be willing to speak to some doctors on this topic. And I had immediately taken up his suggestion and discussed the idea with Uttam Damodara Prabhu, who serves as one of the top managerial heads of all the Apollo Hospitals in Bangalore. And he was very happy to facilitate the program and make the necessary arrangements.
We had fixed the date for the 13th of July - one day before my last Chemo treatment. Then I would be in best condition to take up such a challenge. I had given the title "A Spiritual Dimension to Medical Science" and packaged it as "A Program of Gratitude to Apollo Hospital". Many of the staff members are Christian, and some also Muslim, so I wanted to include people from all religious backgrounds - not just Hindus. Hemasundari Mataji helped me to design a nice invitation card, and when we got 300 copies printed on good quality paper, the printers made a mistake and deleted the title of the program. So we got another 300 cards printed, and also some stickers with the title to put on the incomplete cards. In this way I ended up with 600 invitation cards - an amount I would have never planned for.
On the Monday before the scheduled program I made a special trip to the hospital and distributed all those cards to the doctors, nurses and medical staff. I visited every single department in the entire Hospital and adjacent buildings, even venturing to the various ICU wards and operating theatre, and personally inviting the staff. Sometimes I was stopped by a security guard, who ultimately was happy to help me out and distribute a few cards himself, where I was not allowed to enter. It was a lot of fun, and I felt reminded of the "old days" around 15 years ago, when I was selling wooden back massagers in the hospitals in Norway to collect funds for establishing the holy places in Bangladesh. In those days I was sneaking around in all the departments, rolling those back massagers up and down the doctors and nurses backs - now I was sneaking around inviting everyone to a preaching program!
The outpatient department was extremely busy with the corridors being packed with waiting patients. I was at a loss what to do - how to catch the doctors, since they were all occupied. Then I was bold and simply knocked on each doctor's door, swiftly and politely but assertively interrupting their consultation by handing the doctor an invitation card with a big smile. Not a single person complained - everybody was charmed and so caught by surprise, that they happily accepted the card with gratitude. Some were responding: "Oh, so nice! Yes, we certainly need a spiritual dimension here! I will definately come!" The fact that I am a foreigner - in sari and tilak - probably helped. Sometimes the receptionist tried to stop me, running after me and asking: Ma'm, who are you looking for?" And I simply calmed her down and continued on my mission. My experience from the early days of how to get around the receptionists and not accepting a "no" as an answer were helpful now.....
In this way it took me four hours to distribute all 600 invitation cards. And 600 had been a perfect amount!
On the Monday before the scheduled program I made a special trip to the hospital and distributed all those cards to the doctors, nurses and medical staff. I visited every single department in the entire Hospital and adjacent buildings, even venturing to the various ICU wards and operating theatre, and personally inviting the staff. Sometimes I was stopped by a security guard, who ultimately was happy to help me out and distribute a few cards himself, where I was not allowed to enter. It was a lot of fun, and I felt reminded of the "old days" around 15 years ago, when I was selling wooden back massagers in the hospitals in Norway to collect funds for establishing the holy places in Bangladesh. In those days I was sneaking around in all the departments, rolling those back massagers up and down the doctors and nurses backs - now I was sneaking around inviting everyone to a preaching program!
The outpatient department was extremely busy with the corridors being packed with waiting patients. I was at a loss what to do - how to catch the doctors, since they were all occupied. Then I was bold and simply knocked on each doctor's door, swiftly and politely but assertively interrupting their consultation by handing the doctor an invitation card with a big smile. Not a single person complained - everybody was charmed and so caught by surprise, that they happily accepted the card with gratitude. Some were responding: "Oh, so nice! Yes, we certainly need a spiritual dimension here! I will definately come!" The fact that I am a foreigner - in sari and tilak - probably helped. Sometimes the receptionist tried to stop me, running after me and asking: Ma'm, who are you looking for?" And I simply calmed her down and continued on my mission. My experience from the early days of how to get around the receptionists and not accepting a "no" as an answer were helpful now.....
In this way it took me four hours to distribute all 600 invitation cards. And 600 had been a perfect amount!
I had arranged for a whole team of devotees from the various temples where I had given programs to come and help me on the scheduled day. We had also arranged for a nice snack prasadam: lemon-mint juice, tasty samosas, vegetable puffs, carob cookies and burfi.
Much to my relief the devotees arrived in time at the venue of the Training Hall on the third floor - half an hour before the program was scheduled to start at 3pm.
Much to my relief the devotees arrived in time at the venue of the Training Hall on the third floor - half an hour before the program was scheduled to start at 3pm.
Krsna arranged a funny thing: from 2pm to 3pm the doctors had their monthly Mortality Meeting in the same Hall, discussing various patients' cases during the last month which had been fatal. I was first not so happy when I realized we wouldn't be able to set up things before our program. But then I immediately understood that this was a great opportunity to keep all doctors for our program. And so it happened: the managerial chiefs entered the Hall at the end of the doctors' meeting and requested them to all remain seated and stay on for our program! The secretary was even standing in the door, trying to stop everyone from leaving. I also heard an announcement going through the sound system of the whole Hospital, reminding everyone to attend the program.
More than one hundred doctors, nurses, medical staff and managerial heads assembled - something I never expected, although we had calculated prasadam for one hundred people, expecting to distribute the rest at the temple. All seats were taken, and people were standing in the door, trying to hear with great eagerness.
We began with a short kirtan, and I started the talk by glorifying Apollo Hospital and expressing my gratitude to everyone for giving me such wonderful and personal care, mentioning Dr Vishwanath, and also Dr Chandrasekhar who had inserted the Chemoport. I introduced myself, sharing how I am also coming from medical background, but 32 years ago had found the medicine which gives real happiness - the medicine for the soul. I expressed how essential it is for all people in the medical line to understand the science of the soul. This knowledge will immensely help doctors in treating and benefitting patients, especially those with terminal illnesses. I briefly commented on BG.9.2. and boldly stated that a doctor will only be first class, if he adds this king of education to his life. Otherwise he will only be second class. Without a clear understanding of the science of the soul medical science tends to become inhuman. I also briefly explained what happens at the moment of death, commenting: "You just had your Mortality meeting....!" which made everyone laugh. And I impressed on my audience how important it is for medical personnel to help their patients prepare for this final challenge. Everyone listened very attentively, and at the end some good questions were asked. Since many of the people in the audience were Christian, and also some Muslims attended, I had to present the topics in a broad way, without mentioning Krsna, but simply talking about the Lord, and often referring to all religions, in order to include everyone from all backgrounds.
We passed out the prasadam while everyone remained seated, and in this way I could continue answering questions while everybody enjoyed the snack. The program ended in a personal and harmonious mood, with people still hanging around and talking to the devotees. Some were leaving their contacts for the devotees to follow up. We also had a book table, and some people purchased Prabhupada's books, kirtan CDs and japa beads. Every person received a 16-page brochure entitled "Prabhupada - The Messenger of Good". Some people asked when the next program would take place......
We began with a short kirtan, and I started the talk by glorifying Apollo Hospital and expressing my gratitude to everyone for giving me such wonderful and personal care, mentioning Dr Vishwanath, and also Dr Chandrasekhar who had inserted the Chemoport. I introduced myself, sharing how I am also coming from medical background, but 32 years ago had found the medicine which gives real happiness - the medicine for the soul. I expressed how essential it is for all people in the medical line to understand the science of the soul. This knowledge will immensely help doctors in treating and benefitting patients, especially those with terminal illnesses. I briefly commented on BG.9.2. and boldly stated that a doctor will only be first class, if he adds this king of education to his life. Otherwise he will only be second class. Without a clear understanding of the science of the soul medical science tends to become inhuman. I also briefly explained what happens at the moment of death, commenting: "You just had your Mortality meeting....!" which made everyone laugh. And I impressed on my audience how important it is for medical personnel to help their patients prepare for this final challenge. Everyone listened very attentively, and at the end some good questions were asked. Since many of the people in the audience were Christian, and also some Muslims attended, I had to present the topics in a broad way, without mentioning Krsna, but simply talking about the Lord, and often referring to all religions, in order to include everyone from all backgrounds.
We passed out the prasadam while everyone remained seated, and in this way I could continue answering questions while everybody enjoyed the snack. The program ended in a personal and harmonious mood, with people still hanging around and talking to the devotees. Some were leaving their contacts for the devotees to follow up. We also had a book table, and some people purchased Prabhupada's books, kirtan CDs and japa beads. Every person received a 16-page brochure entitled "Prabhupada - The Messenger of Good". Some people asked when the next program would take place......
It was simply amazing - far beyond my expectations. Krsna had perfectly reciprocated with my endeavors and orchestrated everything in a wonderful way. In fact, the program created a few waves in the entire Hospital - something people were talking about. On the next day we received a phone call: one of the organisers asked for the link to the recordings - for those doctors who missed the program.....
The event was certainly the highlight of my Chemo, and the most healing and rejuvenating medicine for me.....
Here is the link to watch the whole program: https://youtu.be/d7yAQpHtS1o
The event was certainly the highlight of my Chemo, and the most healing and rejuvenating medicine for me.....
Here is the link to watch the whole program: https://youtu.be/d7yAQpHtS1o
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