Back To Godhead magazine Reaching Prison Inmates.
Hardik Kaswala: I am a second-generation Indian-American devotee. I was born in Gujarat state and raised in Atlanta. I have been in prison for almost 3½ years and have about 3½ years to go, unless I am paroled earlier.
I cannot express in words what BTG means to me and what impact this magazine has had on people’s lives in prison. There are so many testimonials of “BTG-lila” in prisons that I could give you. Here are just a few:
Once, a South American inmate started chanting and dancing when he saw my BTG and found out that I am a devotee. The other Latino inmates smiled and listened attentively as he told us how his old girlfriend in his native Uruguay was a devotee, how he went to the temple, ate prasada, etc. He told me, “You have a real good culture, real good religion.”
Another time, at another prison, another Latino inmate saw the BTG in my hands and immediately started chanting Hare Krishna and dancing in ecstasy. I hadn’t mentioned a thing, and we hadn’t even introduced ourselves to each other. He told me how he used to go to the Laguna Beach temple, how nice the devotees were, how he liked the programs and the food. He immediately took the BTG. Srila Prabhupada’s BTG has a transcendental life of its own.
Another time, I was moved into an open dorm, where I knew only one person out of eighty or so inmates. I had the BTG issue of Shri Pancha-tattva in Mayapur and another issue, which had His Holiness Shridhara Swami’s life story. I hadn’t even set my mattress and belongings down when a crowd of people immediately started picking up and looking through the BTGs, saying they wanted to read them. They felt a spontaneous attraction.
It seems that no matter what religion, viewpoint, opinions, background, experiences, culture, or knowledge a person has, there is something for everybody in BTG. I want to thank you and the staff Vaishnavas for writing and producing such an excellent, interesting, spiritually entertaining, and enlightening magazine.
Hardik Kaswala. Calhoun State Prison, Morgan, Georgia