PHILADELPHIA - Bhakta Alec, a 19 year old white bodied devotee from Abbington, moved into the Philly temple last Govardhana Puja, trading in his cigarette leg unisex jeans and band t-shirts for the standard temple devotee uniform of dhoti and kurta.

However, since moving into the Philly asrama, Bhakta Alec has acquired 3 sweater vests. “The chocolate brown one is my favorite,” said Alec after a recent darshan with the ISKCON guru and GBC representative, Ravindra Svarupa. “But the forest green one and the maroon one with the fake knitted braids are good too.”

Prior to becoming a Hare Krishna, Bhakta Alec admits he never even considered owning a sweater vest, preferring nylon windbreakers from Dick’s to woolens from L.L. Bean. While he credits his new wardrobe to the lack of heat and insulation in the asrama and steadily says “he is waiting for Srila Gurudeva to reveal himself to me in my heart,” others are skeptical.

“He’s totally Phillyed out,” reports long-time temple member Big Jay Bhakti. “He looks like a little Ravindra Svarupa. The other day I even heard him quoting Thomas Merton to some college students who came for lunch prasad.” Adding, “he’s on his way to being a full-on RSD disciple.”

The other asrama resident, Maha Suci das, shared that although Bhakta Alec fits the profile of a Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu disciple, there has been no indication, aside from the woolens and affinity to Christian theologists, that Bhakta Alec is aspiring for initiation from anyone. “When he starts listening to classical music, I mean seriously listening, that’s when I’ll start asking him if he’s aspiring.”

“Many devotees have asked me if I was aspiring for Ravindra Svarupa prabhu,” said Bhakta Alec while paging through the more recent issue of New Yorker Magazine. “But I just don’t see why they’d just assume that.”

At almost any other temple, Bhakta Alec’s recent purchase of a 2008 VW Passat, its glovebox stuffed with Atomic Fireball Candies, would have been sharply criticized by fellow devotees. Alec, always wanting to keep the peace, calmed any possible dispute by taking the rest of the asrama for Rita’s Italian Ice and their bi-weekly visit to Brooks Brothers, a clothier renowned for their selection of the finest sweater vests made.