San Francisco ¶
My dear Mukunda, ¶
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of Sept. 1, I could not write you because I was busy for coming to Delhi. I am very happy to learn that Janmashtami was performed with great pomp at our temple. A similar report comes from Montreal. Regarding Vinode Kumar, I think it will be difficult for us to take him to the States. The difficulty is that Scindia Lines has recently refused to give free passage to anyone except myself. So if we want to take him there we have to spend some thousands of dollars for his passage. I don’t think the society can take the risk for a person who is not very expert. I have of course a mind to see the managing director in Bombay and unless a definite arrangement is made we can drop the idea of getting Vinode Kumar in the states. So far your requisition for musical instruments is concerned you can let me know your definite proposal, how many sitars and other things you require monthly. I think your friend or Mr. Kallman in N.Y. can invest some money in this connection. I’ve also written Mr. Kallman separately so you can let me know your definite ideas. One sitar manufacturer is prepared to go there and manufacture sitars locally for us, but I don’t think, for the present moment it is a practical program. My health is improving slowly but undoubtedly there is improvement. ¶