Tamala Krsna: Practically you learned all these things in those early days at Radha-Govinda Temple.

Prabhupada: Yes, that was the training in the childhood. This Ratha-yatra, Radha-Govinda seva, prasada distribution. Only the new thing I am doing — writing of books by the order of Guru Maharaja. Otherwise, whatever I have introduced, I was trained up in childhood. I simply imitated. I am simply surprised, nowadays, even a low-class… Formerly all our maidservant and neighborhood maidservant, they had two business: one prostitution and one maidservant. Otherwise they could not maintain. Simply by becoming maidservant, they have no sufficient income. We were paying them for not whole time three rupees.

Tamala Krsna: Wow!

Prabhupada: Per month. So one house, three rupees, another house, three rupees, another house… In this way their income was ten to twelve rupees. Well, that was not sufficient.

Tamala Krsna: Not much.

Prabhupada: So they had to allow the prostitution. But they were happy. But in that income in those men, they had a guru. The guru would come.

Tamala Krsna: They had a guru.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Tamala Krsna: Even the maidservants.

> Conversation about Old Days in Calcutta – July 1, 1977, Vrndavana