By Rohit Kakkar
Mid Semester recess of IIT Kanpur commenced on 4th October, 2013 and most of the students had their reservations on the same day. Due to bad weather since last three days, trains were running late from their schedule and the station witnessed numerous groups of IIT Kanpur students waiting for their trains. One group among them was that of the Iskcon Community of the campus.
The Iskcon community is a group of Lord Krishna’s devotees and they organises various events in the campus like regular Bhajan and Kirtan Sessions, Understanding of Bhagwad Gita, relating science with religion, grand celebration of Janmashtmi and so on.
As my friends and I arrived at Kanpur Central, we were mesmerized with the chanting of “Hare Rama Hare Krishna ” by IITK Iskcon Community. The crowd gathered around them and was amazed to see students singing on the station without any hesitancy. Some interested people joined them and enhanced the pitch of their hymns catching the attention of a wider audience. They took the initiative to pursue their passion even on the station which for them was one of the best time pass. They really did what they felt like, neglecting what others might think of them.
Truly speaking we were really delighted to see them singing and got lost in their serenity. We stayed among the crowd and continued to gaze at them until they stopped. It was 2:00 am in the morning and we became relaxed and it gave us the strength to wait for another couple of hours for our train to arrive.
The session continued for about an hour and then the Police arrived and asked them to discontinue as it was obstructing the way to the platform from the entrance and the incoming passengers were facing difficulties. After they were stopped by the police, some people started talking to some of the community members to inquire how they pursue this in campus, who preaches it, what schedule they follow, and related activities that happen in the institute and so on. They were being looked at with amazement even after it was over and truly they won the heart of some of the audience.
Source: http://www.coolage.in/2013/10/06/kanpur-central-enchanted-with-hare-rama-hare-krishna/