New Vrindaban’s Transcendental Throwback Thursday – 09/25/14
This week’s challenge: Who are the two people and what are they doing?
Extra credit: When and where was this photo taken?
What to do: Post your guesses on the “who, what, when, where & why” in the comment section at the Brijabasi Spirit website.
Here’s the info we have:
Who (from left to right): John and Gopisa.
What: Production of bricks for the Temple & Guest Cabin roads.
Gopisa prabhu recalls:
“This is the brickyard in full production. Probably summer of 85 or 86 (short sleeves and back door open). We couldn’t work during the winter as we didn’t have a way to cure the bricks in extreme cold. It was Parambrahma and Bimbadhara that did the original set up/construction of the facility. I came in to get it up and running and stayed on with PB who ran the logistics before moving on to other planning services in New Vrindaban.”
The worker beside me was the foreman, I believe his name was John. He was a very gentle soul that worked extremely hard. I found out from his co-workers that he was a competitive arm wrestler that lost his ability to compete because he worked so hard at the brickyard he lost too much weight and muscle mass to stay competitive. The workers that produced those bricks are real heroes. The made it happen every summer and did so in difficult conditions. All glories to their sacrifice!
We produced 5000 bricks a day and they tested out to 8500 PSI and <5% water absorption, which is very strong. Regular concrete is only around 3500-4000 psi. That’s why our parking lot is still there!”
When: Circa 1984 to 1986.
Where: The Brick Factory was in a building near where the current ECOV-Vrindaban valley barn is located today. New Vrindaban, West Virginia.