When I went in to see Srila Prabhupada to get gayatri mantra I sat down next to him and just as he was about to begin someone knocked on the door and walked in with remnants from the fire sacrifice that had just taken place. The tray was put on Srila Prabhupada's desk and without hesitating he picked up a big beautiful fully opened rose in his left hand and with his right he picked up a handful of burnt banana. Then he began very meticulously smooshing (is that a word?) the banana in between the petals of the rose. He looked over at me a few times with a boyish grin and I just grinned back. He was having a good time with the banana and the rose and I was having a good time watching him. And that's the end of that story.
