published by dandavats used with permission
In 1986 I stopped in Singapore with a devotee for a few days before attending the 500th anniversary of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s advent in Sridham Mayapur.
We visited Govinda’s Boutique, a small shop that sold many items, including Srila Prabhupada’s books 📚 Walking around after visiting the boutique, we heard a big boom 💥 A multistory building had collapsed right around the corner.
Hundreds of people were in the building when it came down. The Singapore army was brought in. Piece by piece they dug through the building. Some people were saved, many were not.
About 20 years later, I was talking to two devotees from Singapore, Rasikendra Prabhu and his wife, Padaduli Devi Dasi. Padaduli had been a travel agent on the 2nd floor of the building that collapsed.
As she was on her way to work that fateful morning, she was already in the lobby of the building when a sankirtan devotee in saffron caught her attention. She saw Srila Prabhupada on the front cover of his one-volume biography, Prabhupada. The sankirtan devotee smiled and motioned for her to come outside to get a closer look at the book.
Padaduli opened the glass door and walked 🚶♀️ toward the book. Just as she was crossing the street, the building collapsed behind her. Saved by Prabhupada, she bought the book.
Nowadays, Padaduli and Rasikendra are dedicated servants of the servants of Sri Sri Radha Nila Madhava at the ISKCON temple in Houston, Texas. Still saved by Prabhupada.
your servant, Mishra