Work in the Office like, the Battle of Kuruksetra
written by Braja Bihari, Chowpatti India.
This is the story of one man who bought Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad Gita in the year 1980 and placed it on his book shelf. Time passed quietly but surely the 'bomb' was ticking and waiting to explode. Many books, newspapers, and magazines were dumped away annually during the Diwali maha-cleaning but somehow the Bhagavad Gita stayed. Once a year, this gentleman religiously removed the book off the shelf, cleaned the huge pile of dust and placed it back at the same spot. More than a decade of this ritual passed and fortunes changed.
In the early 90s, Mr. Khemraj Shah was under tremendous stress at his job. His colleagues were plotting against him, his promotions and even his job was at stake. He had an important task to do. Identify his enemies and checkmate them. Vaguely Khemraj remembered how the epic Mahabharata is also a tale of intrigue and politics. Surely, this story has parallels in his tale of woe and probably even the solutions. That instant he recollected he has Bhagavad Gita at home, which for some reason he had refused to discard. Now is the time to turn the pages…
After reading the first chapter, he claims he could relate to the plight of Arjuna. However his concern was to destroy his enemies and his ambition, political. The 2nd chapter done, his interest grew, never mind if it wasn't actually fitting into his office set up. The 3rd and 4th chapter reading convinced him to take a week off from work and exclusively study the Gita. As he completed each chapter, Srila Prabhupada's words touched the core of his heart and slowly his vision changed. A week later he had begun chanting and looking for devotees.
Today, 23 years since he purchased the book, Mr. Khemraj Shah is Khagendra dasa, a very active preacher and an initiated disciple of H.H. Lokanath Swami Maharaj. A friend of the Radha Gopinath congregation he stays at Alibagh and along with his wonderful family is preaching full time. He left his job long ago and has a steady business, which he says is left totally in Krsna's hands, so that he can devote all time and energy to distribute this knowledge to others.
