“Five Years, Eleven Months,” a memoir by senior Srila Prabhupada disciple Visakha Dasi, has been named a finalist in the spirituality category at the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (NGIBA).

NGIBA is the largest not-for-profit book awards program for indie authors and independent publishers. As a finalist, Visakha’s book will be listed in its 2017 catalog. It will also be distributed at Book Expo America in New York, as a countertop handout at registration desks. And it will be promoted to book buyers, book lovers and library reps along with media and industry professionals. 

“Five Years, Eleven Months” is aimed beyond the devotee community, at a mainstream public audience. Its title refers to the amount of time between the day Visakha was initiated by ISKCON Founder Srila Prabhupada, and his passing.

The book tells the story of how Visakha went from being an avowed atheist to being convinced of God’s existence and love through Prabhupada’s example.

It also tells of how she navigated fanaticism amongst early ISKCON devotees, how Vrindavan and its widows transformed her heart, and how she traveled with Prabhupada as his photographer and was privy to his remarkable conversations with professors, clergyman and politicians.

With fifty beautiful photographs of Prabhupada, India and the devotees of the time, the book has been praised for its refreshing honesty and introspection, as well as for giving the reader a vision of the power of association with the Lord’s pure devotee. Meanwhile Kirkus Reviews called it “lyrical and evocative.”

“My prayer for this book was that both devotees and non-devotees would find something of value in it,” Visakha says. “This award indicates to me that by Srila Prabhupada’s and Sri Sri Radha Krishna’s grace and kindness, that prayer may be answered. I’m most grateful.”

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