Nartaka Gopala dasi says: I have been feeling devastated since I heard my dear friend Labangalatika devi passed on May 28, 2019 at her home in India. Yes, one less Prabhupada disciple on the planet, but more than that, she was one of the most remarkable and inspiring people I ever knew. In another sense her passing was glorious, considering all the service she performed in her lifetime. Her most astounding legacy was that she was one of the very first distributors of big books in ISKCON. An original, pioneer of book distribution. She distributed many, many books for many years. She was always a humble, sweet, practical-minded, service-oriented Vaishnavi, totally dedicated to pleasing her beloved Guru Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada. I stayed with her at her farmhouse in Roha, Maharasthra on several occasions and always left there humbled by her spiritual advancement. Her son Dvarakadhish das, (now living in California) who Srila Prabhupada affectionately referred to as Mr. DDD, relates some poignant features of her life story here below:
Labangalatika devi (Rosalie Haswell Borthwick Malik)
by her son Dvarakadhish das Darwin Borthwick
My mother was born in Worcester, England in 1939. Her father was a Major in the English Army; his job was recruiting men for the army. My Mom attended boarding school. My aunt said she was beautiful, brilliant, and way ahead of her time. She graduated from Oxford with a Masters in Philosophy, Political Science and Economics. She met my father there in 1961; he graduated with a Masters in Fine Arts. My father and her were part of the anti-war movement and used to put up posters against the use of nuclear weapons. He remembers the police blowing their whistles at them and telling them to stop in the name of the Queen. They wouldn’t stop, but go somewhere else to continue.
My mother had occasional trips to the Mediterranean when she was a child, and decided after she met my dad, that they would leave England for California. She was tired of the gray skies. My parents were together for about 5 years. My father being a self-employed artist, made little money, but they were both happy to live in nice affordable farm ranches. One such place they rented in Terre Del Sol near San Diego, when I was around 3, was for $35 a month. My mom had her animals: a horse, a goat, a German Shepherd dog, chickens, Egyptian ducks, and a peacock.
Then in 1966 she decided to go to with me to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico when I was 3 years old to write her novel. While down there my mom and I ended up getting deported to Brownsville, Texas. She was an idealist and didn’t want to conform to society. She met some hippies and was experimenting with the alternative life style. When we were living in a commune near Placitas, New Mexico she heard a devotee, Revitananda das, chanting the Hare Krsna mantra. That was it: it drew her to the shelter of Srila Prabhupada.
In 1968 we both joined the storefront temple in Santa Fe NM run by Toshan Krsna and Harinamanada. The temple closed down shortly thereafter and then her and I got in the VW bug and went to LA. We both met Srila Prabhupada. In those days almost anyone could talk to Prabhupada. My mother received her new name Labangalatika devi dasi. Prabhupada told her if we hadn’t come we both would have been killed.
Tamal Krsna Goswami asked Srila Prabhupada when I was in LA in 1968, what should we name this boy Darwin? Prabhupada gave me my name Dvarakadhisa Das. Dayananda Prabhu remembers Prabhupada calling me to his room in 1968 and calling Mr. DDD. I have two letters that Srila Prabhupada addressed me as My Dear Mr DDD. Also I heard a tape where Prabhupada refers to me as our New Vrindavan Mr DDD. Rupa Vilas remembers Prabhupada calling me Mr DDD in New York temple. He called me his very old friend. (I pleased him because I sold the most Back to Godheads on our trip from Dallas to New York. It was pretty amazing we left in a van, Rupa Vilas and another teacher and several gurukula boys Ekendra, Lila Smarana, myself, and perhaps a few others. Dallas gurukula had no money, so the temple headmaster gave us $20. We begged all our gas and food the whole way.)
When Prabhupada travelled to New Vrndavan in 1969 my Mom & I also went there. My mother was happy doing a lot of service like pujari service, cooking, and cleaning. She paid for the first cow named Kaliya. Prabhupada told her that she could sell the milk and then be able to take care of the cow. Of course being a communal farm that didn’t work out. She went to different places distributing Back to Godhead magazines, like Montreal.
Then in 1973 she moved to LA. She became famous all over ISKCON for going out 7 days a week distributing big books mostly at the LA airport. Her nickname was Jail Rosie for getting arrested so many times on account of distributing books. She was one of top book distributors and money collectors. Here is a memory of her at the LA airport from her friend the German devotee Nartaki devi: “I remember one time at LAX she was distributing Bhagavad-gitas to people in a tour group to go see Disneyland, Universal Studios, Hollywood etc. She gathered them all, gave them each a Bhagavad-gita and told them of the importance of this scripture from India. They were happy, gave a donation and left. After a few minutes they came back, saying their tour guide told them that the book distributors are not authorized to be at LAX. They wanted to give the books back and take the money back. She neither gave the money back nor took the books, but stood up on a bench and gave a loud speech. ‘Dear Ladies and Gentlemen: not only are we fully authorized to be present here today, but also are we giving you a most valuable book called Bhagavad-gita, a 5000 year old literature about Yoga, Meditation and Self-realization, with wisdom for our modern day to day life. You are very welcome to keep this book and bring it as a gift for your family. Do not listen to the ill advice of others who have selfish motivations. Hare Krishna.’ She was so convinced and determined that even the Tour guide was stunned and did not dare to retaliate. With a smile on her face she stepped down from the bench, went to the book box, got more books and kept distributing.”
After LA, in 1983 she distributed Russian Bhagavad-gita’s to Russians around the world. She even went to Moscow in 1984 during the Iron curtain days. She placed the books on window sills and watched people pick them up. She could have been arrested by the KGB.
Eventually she ended up in India in 1985. She decided to settle down in her own home so she married her husband Prakash Malik, a retired engineer. In the late 1980’s what started with Prakash’s and his friends who bought land to grow mangoes eventually became her goshala. She received her first cow Lalita from her husband’s friend back in 1992. Now her goshala protection has grown to over to 60 cows. She told me she didn’t have any desire to go live anywhere else. She was always busy taking care of her cows by administering medical care mostly with homeopathic medicines. Sometimes she had to call the veterinarian. A lot of times she had to do the work of milking, picking up the cow dung or feeding the cows pendas/ rice straw since the workers would go on vacation. She would make special trips in the evening to give the cows their treats.
I don’t know what disease she passed away from specifically. She broke her hip in 2015. After that it got difficult for her to walk without a cane. She was very scared to fall again as she would end up in a wheelchair. She had pelvic collapse. The surgeon Giriraj Prabhu at Bhaktivedanta Hospital who did her operation said usually patients in her age bracket only live a year after that. It is amazing she lived as long as she did, considering. She did go into Bhaktivedanta Hospital for 5 days within perhaps 4 to 5 months of her passing. She told her husband Prakash and the head nurse to get her out, which she was so glad. I heard she had trouble with thyroid. She had bad sores on her leg that needed dressing daily. She stopped taking the medicines from the hospital as they created to many side effects. When I arrived to visit her in India on April 4th, 2019 she was eating relatively well. She was eating on her own but all the food needed to be blended. She said I don’t know why I am eating. She felt so useless just in bed with so much pain.
She was only listening to kirtans and Srila Prabhupada’s chanting until she passed away on May 28, 2019, at her farmhouse in Roha, Maharasthra, India.
I sponsored the Sunday feast at ISKCON Berkeley in loving memory of her eternal soul, and I read this article about her in the temple that evening.