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Bhakta Somesh Kumar

Govindadwipa Development Project committee member
Govindadwipa mailing list moderator

Born in 1977 in Bangalore, South India. I first came to know about ISKCON in Pune (near Bombay) around 1999, when my sister told me about the Janmashtami festival there.

The first time I saw the temple structure from outside I felt that it was not a traditional Indian temple. That was confirmed when I went inside - to see the devotional attitude in the temple was just fantastic. until that point, I had not seen so much devotional energy anywhere else. All the devotees chanting and dancing in ecstasy in the Gaura Arati - yes, that was what I witnessed first! Though then I did not know what was Gaura Arati and who is Lord Gaurachandra!

I was also impressed by the interest the bhaktas were showing in selling the books and other spiritual paraphernalia like the chanting beads. That day, I took Bhagavad Gita As It Is and a set of beads from the temple.

Back to Hyderabad, I began visiting the ISKCON temple from time to time. My main devotional interest however was reading the Bhagavad Gita As It Is. I read it everyday for a long time, surprising my parents with my great interest in it…

I remember having met many times one of the congregational members in Hyderabad who was in a very nice preaching mood, as all the ISKCON devotees are :), and it was nice to see that spirit of preaching :).

The third stage in my devotional life was coming to Ireland in 2001 to work for Ericsson, Athlone. After coming here, I looked for a temple on the Internet and to my pleasant surprise found the island of Govinda! - Govindadwipa, which I made up my mind to visit.

Visiting Dublin to see the city, I saw the Govinda's Restaurant advertisement in the Tourism Office. I knew it had something to do with ISKCON and I again enquired about Govindadwipa there and got the pamphlet.

Then I went to Govindadwipa and was amazed by the beauty of the island of Govinda. Another amazing thing was all the western devotees (!!!) up at 4.30 am in the morning wearing dhotis and singing the Guruvashtaka (I didn't know it was Guruvashtaka then!) with full devotion to Radha-Govinda - There's nothing in the world which can be compared to that - Of course, because it is a TRANSCENDENTAL experience, transcending all the modes of material nature!

After that, my visits became very frequent and I wanted to associate with the devotees more. Due to the mercy of devotees like Srirupa, Manu and Pragosha Prabhus to name just a few, I got involved in the Govindadwipa Development Project committee, and in order to involve more people in Ireland in the service of Radha-Govinda I started the Govindadwipa Yahoo Group, where in I send details of the temple festivals and also Bhagavad Gita verses to discuss.

I am still begging for the mercy of devotees and Krishna, so that I can follow this transcendental path of Krishna consciousness in my daily life and one day get involved in Srila Prabhupada's army full-time!