Barefoot pilgrims ageing eight to eighty reach for hot halavah prasadam from the hands of Chanchal Krishna dasa. It is cooked with bhakti, raisins and cashews by ISKCON Govardhana's Kunja Kishor dasa. This Hare Krishna Food for Life effort took place on the Govardhana Hill parikrama path in front of ISKCON's asrama there on August 14th, 2004 in the blistering late afternoon, two days before the end of Purushottama. Purushottama is a "catch up" lunar month that happens every three years. ISKCON's Nila Madhava at the far left, in the white T-shirt, pours ice cold water (Jal Seva) for walkers on the first leg of their 14-mile sojurn that will take most of them six hours. An estimated 30,000 people circled the hill that day. Temperatures ranged from 90 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, including the night. Prasadam and Jal Seva are a daily affair during the month for devotees of ISKCON Govardhana. They give out over 2000 helpings each day.

In the moments leading up to the accident, a choice was made which changed the lives of, not only the deceased, but their families, friends, team mates, and the wider community. A large amount of time, money, physical and mental pain is brought about by a tragedy such as this. The effects go out like the ripples from a stone thrown into a still lake.

It?s not a sentimental exaggeration to say that the New Zealand yatra holds a special place in my heart, and my understanding of Sril Gurudeva?s (Tamal Krishna Goswami) appreciation for the zone and its devotees has developed over the years since I left. It is rare to meet the caliber of devotee anywhere else in the world that you meet in NZ.

As her disease progressed, Motor Neurone sufferer, Willie Terpstra lost her ability to talk, and swallowing and eating became difficult. She flew to China this month for controversial stem cell surgery. Around two million stem cells taken from aborted foetuses, were transplanted into her brain. It takes cells from the nasal passages of aborted foetuses aged between four and six months. Stem cell surgery is banned in most parts of the world.

Asha Ramanan, a young mother in Sri Lanka, grieves for her dead 10-year-old son. Rohit Charnak, (31) from Chennai, is numbed by the drowning of his wife while on holiday in Thiruvananthapuram.