Bangalore : The book ‘Sing, Dance and Pray: The Inspirational Story of Srila Prabhupada’, Founder Acharya of ISKCON was launched at ISKCON Bangalore in commemoration of his 125th birth anniversary. This book is authored by Dr. Hindol Sengupta and published by Penguin Random House India.
The guests of honour for the book launch were Smt. Sudha Murty, Renowned Author, Philanthropist and Chairperson, Murty Foundation; Shri S. Somanath, Chairman ISRO, Shri Ricky Kej, 2X Grammy Award Winner; Milee Aishwarya, Publisher, Penguin Random House India and Dr Hindol Sengupta, author of the book. The event was presided by Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa, President, ISKCON Bangalore, Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation and Sri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Senior Vice-President, ISKCON-Bangalore, Vice-Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation.
‘Sing, Dance and Pray’ provides a unique insight into the life of Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON and the greatest ambassador of India’s spiritual culture and heritage, to the contemporary audience. He also established a worldwide confederation of more than 100 temples, ashrams and cultural centres.
A panel discussion followed the launch, where the dignitaries shared their thoughts on the biography.
Praising this biography, Smt. Sudha Murty expressed, “I want to congratulate Hindol for vividly writing about a monk, his difficulties, and why he became successful. When I went through the book, it was so clear who Srila Prabhupada was as a person. So, I like this book, it is very well-written, of a good standard and logically very convincing.”
Shri S. Somnath also participated in the discussion and expressed his appreciation for the biography.
Shri Ricky Kej stated, “Sing, Dance and Pray portrays a 360-degree approach to life. Swami Prabhupada’s life was completely about breaking cultural barriers. He was the greatest cultural and traditional ambassador of India. As a cultural pioneer, he made Indian culture accessible and mainstream through his endeavours all over the world.”
Dr. Hindol Sengupta expressed his happiness about the release of his 10th book and said, “This book is truly special and it has become possible by divine grace. One of the greatest qualities of Srila Prabhupada was his ability to take his message and transcend history. His eternal message is not confined to a particular time, space or geography. I think that is a really interesting trait of Srila Prabhupada. ”
Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa thanked all the dignitaries for their gracious presence at the event. Speaking on the occasion, he said, “I would like to congratulate Dr. Hindol Sengupta for this really amazing work where he has brought out the exemplary personality of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada transplanted the vibration of India into the midst of Western Culture, and that has been captured very well in this book. Srila Prabhupada’s movement was a scientific movement, a science without boundaries.”
This book has received unanimous praise from erudite international scholars like Dr. John Stratton Hawley (Claire Tow Professor of Religion, Columbia University) and Francis X. Clooney (Parkman Professor of Divinity, Harvard University), to eminent personalities like Shashi Tharoor (Member of Parliament and Author), Swapan Dasgupta (Journalist and Thinker) and Karan Singh (Politician and Philosopher).