In 1978, I joined ISKCON in South Africa. Then, in 1991, I moved to Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, where I personally served my spiritual master in various ways. And in 1996, he sent me to Vrindavan, where I joined the VIHE, first as its secretary, and then, when the courses opened up for devotees in women’s bodies, as one of the first two teachers. In those days, the VIHE was very small, right next to the temple building, in what used to be the gurukula and brahmachari ashram building. There were no facilities for teachers and students, so I was given a tiny room on the Parikrama Marg, in a dilapidated one-storey building named “Kirtan Ashram” because its entrance gate featured a wrought iron design of a kirtan party. Officially, the ashram was under the management of the Krishna-Balaram temple but, as the late temple president, His Holiness Kadamba Kanana Swami, told me a few years later, “We had no use for this property. We were not ready for it. It was just dumped on us.” As I recall, most of the rooms were used by teachers from the Gurukula and by householder couples. Over the next six years, until the GBC meetings of 2002, the Kirtan Ashram was under the supervision of various ISKCON Ministries, and—with or without their consent—the local authorities allowed a multi-millionaire from America to build a temple on the Kirtan Ashram land for her own deities. The temple was built right against the existing crumbling house, with no regard whatsoever for the residents. It blocked light and air and there was no more garden.

My involvement with the ashram management began after the Women’ Ministry took charge of it after the GBC meetings of 2002. To me, the project sounded unappealing: only women wearing white who had lived in Vrindavan for at least five consecutive years would be eligible to live in the ashram, and they would support themselves by creating cottage industries. Still, I agreed to take care of the ashram—but only for four months—while the devotee meant to be in charge went off to America to enlist support. During that time, 

I had a municipal connection installed for sweet water, made sure that no more men or grihastha couples lived in the ashram and that only single women could rent rooms— especially those who came from abroad for spiritual inspiration in Vrindavan. As a result, although the money situation became quite desperate, we did attract some serious devotees from abroad to spend undisturbed time at the ashram.

Meanwhile, the fundraiser, Her Grace Thakurani devi dasi, became discouraged by the lack of response to her appeals, and she dropped the project.  By then I was convinced that there was a need for an ashram exclusively for women who want to spend time in Vrindavan. I was willing to work toward that goal, and my spiritual master, His Holiness Giriraj Swami, confirmed that it would be a worthy endeavor.

But we were in dire need of funds. My spiritual master had pledged—and given—two lakhs of rupees to the Women’s Ministry for the Kirtan Ashram, and some ICC members pledged various amounts. Mumbai gave Rs.50,000, Delhi, Rs. 25,000. The Chowpatti temple, Their Holinesses Lokanath Swami, and Vedavyas-priya Maharaja also contributed to their capacity. 

Two things became very clear: 1) ISKCON as an institution was not going to help much—if at all—and 2) the Kirtan Ashram building had become a hazard and needed to be rebuilt. In Kartik of 2002, sitting alone at the ashram with one leg temporarily paralyzed, I was wondering what to do when a man from Surat, a new acquaintance in whose house I had lectured a few months earlier, paid me a surprise visit with his family. And he offered to give twenty lakhs of rupees for a women’s ashram. He suggested we could either give it to the Kirtan Ashram or establish a new trust, buy some land and build on it, or buy a ready-made building somewhere in Vrindavan. As a faithful member of ISKCON I opted for the first alternative. And, as in a fairy tale—with a few rough edges—the Kirtan Ashram was rebuilt. The total cost was almost 50 lakhs, and the balance came from His Holiness Giriraj Swami and two or three of his disciples.

If my memory serves me right, guests started coming in Kartik 2004. My idea was that since the ashram was meant for senior ISKCON women who had dedicated their lives to Srila Prabhupada’s mission, they should give donations according to their means rather than pay a set fee. And it worked—at least for a few years. Then, as Vrindavan became more and more a kind of spiritual tourist attraction, the municipality decided to enlarge and tar the sandy parikrama road, and they started cutting trees and bulldozed our boundary wall, taking several feet of whatever was left of our initial plot. Our building was now practically on the road!

In 2018 I became seriously ill, and in 2022, by the time the Covid epidemic ended, I was finished. So, after consulting with my guru maharaja and other senior devotees, I gave up the management of the Kirtan Ashram and moved to Mayapur.