The Perfect Escape
Dear devotees, Recently I had the great fortune of having my four wisdom teeth pulled out.
I went to the dentist in dhoti and kurta, and all the dental staff were really favorable, so I invited them for the Sunday Feast at our city sankirtan ashram and promised to bring some books for them on my next visit.
One week later I had to go in for a check-up. I was back on sankirtan but taking it easy, and when I went for my appointment I took some books for the staff as I had promised.
I entered the surgery reception, reported to the secretary, and took my seat in the back row.
Then I saw a man sitting in front, to the left. He was wearing a dark-green outfit, which is the common jail uniform here. Then I spotted his escort, a male police officer, sitting to his left. I looked closer at the prisoner. He had thick metal shackles on his wrists. I noticed that there was a book resting on the seat to his right, which was the seat directly in front of me.
I thought, "Wow. Look at this man all shackled up, with no freedom. And he likes to read! Maybe I can somehow give him a book. But how? Should I strike up a conversation with him and ask if he wants it? If the officer became aware of the book, he might forbid the prisoner to get the mercy, especially if he saw the title: 'Perfect Escape,' by His Holiness Devamrita Swami."
I remembered that I had once tried to send some books to a lost gurukuli brother of mine. He was in prison for an incident in which he had acted in self-defense. But the jail officers informed me that I couldn't send any books. So instead I wrote him a long letter about how we're all locked up in the prison house of the material world and the invisible bars are sex desire. So he should pray to Lord Narasimha-deva for His protection.
Now my plan was that when the officer looked away I would somehow place the book on top of the prisoner's other book through the back of the seat in front of me. That way the prisoner would notice it without making a big deal, and then he would hopefully take it back to the jail for him and others to read.
While I was planning all this, the prisoner suddenly turned around and looked at me!
"You getting your wisdom teeth pulled, bud?" he asked.
"Na, bro," I replied in the local street slang, "I got em out last week."
"Oh, you just in for a check-up, ey?" said the prisoner.
"Yeah," I replied with a nod that was familiar to him.
I asked if he was getting his teeth pulled out, and he said he was just waiting for another prisoner who was having an operation. When you get an operation, the nurses ask you to bring an escort to accompany you home because of the aftereffects of the general anesthesia.
So Krishna had arranged our contact.
I positioned myself nicely for the drop, holding "Perfect Escape" under the Krsna book I was reading. Now I just had to wait for the officer to look the other way when the elevator doors opened to the left of us, as he had done the last two times.
Ping! The doors opened. The officer turned his head to look at the passengers exiting the lift, and I swiftly but silently slipped the book through the hole in the back of the seat in front of me and placed it right on top of the prisoner's other book.
The officer started talking to the prisoner about criminals, judges, courts, the system, etc., as if he were a colleague. The prisoner ignored him. The officer just kept going on, pointing out faults in the system, as the prisoner turned his head to see the new book that had mysteriously appeared. He looked at it curiously for a few seconds and then looked back at me. I gave him the underworld nod to seal the deal. He returned the nod with a secret look of strong gratitude.
He picked up the book and started inspecting the cover. "Perfect Escape." The officer saw it but didn't pay any attention, still absorbed in his conversation with himself. The prisoner opened it, read the chapter tiles and the back cover, looked back at me with an eye of respect, and then started reading the introduction. By this time the officer had realized he wasn't getting any response from his detainee and became silent. But he didn't show any concern about the new book.
Success! "This book could change his whole life!" I thought to myself. And maybe many more back in the prison.
"Mr. Godden!" called the nurse. It was time for my check-up.
As I entered the door with the nurse, the officer called out, "Excuse me, nurse." My heart skipped a beat! I thought I was going to get a tongue-lashing from the officer. "How much longer?" He asked. I looked back while the nurse said, "A few more minutes, sir." And the prisoner again caught my eye and winked with deep appreciation.
I then went in for my check-up with the surgeon who had operated on me. A favorable man. I asked him how the anesthesia worked. He explained that they only knew how long a person would be unconscious according to dosage and body weight, but they had absolutely no idea how the anesthetic worked on the brain. He said, "The brain is an extremely complex thing." I used this opportunity to point out that it's funny to think that it all came from a big bang. He agreed and I gave him a book to read also.
Jaya Srila Prabhupada!
Thank you for saving as all from Maya's dark dungeon.
Making an escape from Maya's prison, still dragging a ball and chain,
Your servant,
Dhruvananda Dasa Sydney,
Austrailia
