Prabhupada took lunch on the one-hour flight to Sydney. A devotee had carefully double-fried Prabhupada's favourite – urad dal kacauris – which he enjoyed with the rest of his prasadam.
At Sydney airport's transit lounge, Srutakirti and Paramahamsa Swami sat on either side of Prabhupada as he softly chanted japa. In one hour their Pan Am flight would be departing for Fiji and Hawaii. Suddenly a young man in Qantas Airlines uniform approached and offered Srila Prabhupada and each of his party a paper cup of soft drink. Then he put down the tray, and, to the devotees' surprise, offered full, prostrated obeisances on the floor, while chanting Prabhupada's pranam mantras.
Prabhupada turned to Srutakirti, "Who is this boy?" Srutakirti recognised him from the Melbourne temple. It was Geoffrey Fletcher, the young ground-traffic officer who had written to Prabhupada expressing his desire to become his disciple.
Geoffrey: I had upgraded Prabhupada's travelling status on the computer from first class to VIP. When I offered him the drinks he seemed pleased with my humble offering and drank the whole cup. As I stood, I heard Srutakirti say: ‘He's coming around to the temple, Srila Prabhupada.' Prabhupada smiled and Srila Prabhupada said, ‘Very good'. My short association with Srila Prabhupada in Melbourne had changed my life. One month later, I handed in my resignation and became a full-time devotee.
From Biographies and Glorifications of Srila Prabhupada-‘The Great Transcendental Adventure-‘Such a Nice Temple’ -Melbourne, 1975–Kurma das
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