from bhaktin Olga Mikitina – Ukraine, Krivoy Rog

Greatly respected and very dear to my heart Srila Gurudev, Hare Krsna! Please accept my humble obeisance.
Today, on the eve of Your Appearance Day, I cannot help but share, how happy I am to be Your disciple!

Exactly, a year ago 18 of May 2019, You bestow Your mercy upon me and gave me, a fallen soul, Your pranama-mantra. I do not remember day happier than that in my life! When I remember that sweet moment my hands start shaking and tears flow from my eyes. On that day, You told me that besides You there were a lot of good spiritual teachers, which are even much better than You… You asked me, why I chose You…

Like a year ago, I am sure of choice of my heart. Actually it is not me, it is You who chose me. I am incredibly happy about this!

Today let me share with You this nectarian story…

Due to immense mercy of Srila Prabhupada, I got into society of Krsna Consciousness. After one of “Param Gati” festivals, my girl-friend showed me Your picture saying that You gave a child name to her daughter… At that time I did not belong to devotees’ society, and thought that the topic of Krsna is not for me (how naive I was).

I definitely did not remember Your name and forgot about that story. But that was the beginning of all beginnings.

After sometime, 14 of March 2019, I woke up with some strange words spinning in my head. “Indradyumna Swami” — I could not throw away those words for the whole day! Whatever I did the name was constantly on my mind. After some time I decided to understand, what was happening and what type of words my mind was repeating…

I searched in Google for “Indradyumna Swami”, and it gave me a lot of information. First I looked on the Wikipedia… It was eureka for me! I started to read Your biography and right after first paragraph, tears started to flow from my eyes! There were tears of joy and awe! The date of Your birth is very important in my family, and the story of Your life delighted me. While I was reading about You, I got a feeling in my heart that, finally, I met You after long separation!

My own father is no longer alive. Many years ago he left his body when I was still at school. While I was reading about You, I got a feeling that after long time I met my father! The one whom I never hoped to see ever! But You, You dispelled this grief with Your grace! I am so much grateful to You for that!

After I read Your biography, I started to search for Your photos in the Internet. And yes! My heart was dancing in ecstasy and eyes were covered with tears of joy and bliss! I cannot understand how is it possible, but I noticed that there were similarities between You and my father. Next day, Your picture appeared on my altar. Every day, watching it, I felt indescribable happiness.

15 of may 2019 in Dnepr city, in airport I saw You for the first time! I had a nectarine opportunity to come at arm’s length close to You and gift You with a modest bouquet from the bottom of my heart… I do not know why I deserved such mercy, but all these days in my heart are painted in bright red color, which was the sign of a great event!

Your kirtans pierce the deepest parts of my heart. Your voice delivers me the information from Your lectures even in English, which I understand very poorly. From Your words I can easily understand all the philosophy and history, which is not usually so easy for me to get. Your books “Diary of a Travelling Monk” are a storehouse of inspiration.

Day after day, I prayed to Krsna to allow me to serve You! And I asked You to help me to purify my heart, my mind and to allow me to serve You. And by great mercy, You, as well as senior devotees, Your disciples, allow me to serve Krsna.

This year my life has changed completely. By Caklesvara’s Prabhu mercy, I got the opportunity to serve Your disciples from Ukraine, distributing information about Your life and Your activity. By the mercy of senior devotees of our yatra, I have the opportunity to decorate kundas for Deities and Prabhupada with fruits and vegetables. Making some composition for them. For example, I made for Lord Balaram fruit and flower baskets and a field of sweets in the form of eternity; a kunda for Lord Ramachandra with palm trees and swans, for Lord Caitanya — lotuses made from fruits. By the mercy of senior devotees, I also have opportunity to cook sweets for Sri Sri Nitai Mayapur Candra on Sunday programs, and to organize Sunday programs for small Vaisnavas and Vaisnavis.

Due to indescribable mercy of Gaura Premanandi Mataji and Caklesvara Prabhu, I have an opportunity to serve in transcribing Your nectarine lectures.

With blessings of senior devotees of our yatra, on the 23 of May will be the first meeting of Women’s club for women and girls, which I want to organize as indirect preaching of Krsna Consciousness. I want to share with women Vedic culture. I could not have done all this without Your mercy and the mercy of Srila Prabhupada.

I would be more successful in my service if You will give me Your blessings, dear Srila Gurudeva.

Today is the eve of Your Appearance day, and as on other days I pray to Lord to give You strength and health to serve Your spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, year after year. One of the reasons why I am praying is that because I need You and Your unlimited mercy, Your wisdom, Your realizations, Your kindness!

It is hard for me to imagine where I would be now and what I would do if was not for You… Please, accept my gratitude from all of us for what You are doing for the world, for people, for devotees and for me as well. You are a ray of sunlight, of Krsna’s mercy, You are the ocean of mercy and purity, and You are an ideal example of service to Guru and Krsna!

I am grateful to You, Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krsna, that You are in my life. Please allow me, to serve You and to always humbly bow down to Your lotus feet, wherever I am. Please, allow me to serve Your mission my whole my life.

I offer my obeisance to Your lotus feet.

Your humble servant, bhaktin Olga