Prabhupāda: Find out cost. Some shopkeepers, stores. Some return. If we can get our cost price of the books.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We should get cost price.
Prabhupāda: Not should, but must as far as possible.
Guru-kṛpā: I've heard that in Russia the people are so eager to read imported literature that any literature appears they immediately buy it.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: There's a black market going on in Russia, particularly black market on books. Books are smuggled into the country and sold and they're very dearly read. People are very anxious.
Prabhupāda: Yes. They must be because they are keeping in darkness.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.
Prabhupāda: These nasty countries, in the name of giving them material facility, they'll kill them, even they're independent. Such a horrible country. How people can tolerate loss of independence? It is very horrible. I am sitting here 24 hours, this is another thing, but if I understand that I cannot go out, I have to sit down here, oh it is horrible. It is a horrible condition. Simply this impression that I have to keep myself within this room, although I am keeping myself, I am not going, only for walk maybe. But if the impression is that I cannot go out from this room, then my life is lost. This is psychology. So, they are keeping their young men. They are not allowed to go out of the country, in Russia. Similarly in China.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Even more so.
Prabhupāda: So what kind of government it is? It is a horrible government. And they are hackney only in literature. These communist country, the people are forced to accept the government regulation. And that is all bad. I have seen in Moscow, generally the people are morose, their face not very happy. They are also Europeans, they want freedom to go here and there (indistinct) and to work. The taxi driver-first of all there is scarcity of taxi, you can not get taxi...
Guru-kṛpā: Even in Moscow, big city.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That Professor Kotofsky, I asked him, "Please arrange for a taxi." (indistinct) "Well, Swamiji, this is Moscow." So he came down to the gate—he was very virtuous—he showed me, "You go this way, actually there was 3 or 4 lane then you find a short lane, then you go this way, this way, then you get to your hotel. He showed me some short cut, personally. They... He could not call a taxi. And somewhere we went, we got a taxi, private taxi, and that man was begging for more than the fare.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That means the system...
Prabhupāda: "Can you not give me little more?"
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That means the system is a failure.
Prabhupāda: And then I could understand. And they have got that there is tourist bus, taking here and there, that bus is third class. Even less opulent than in India.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: How many days were you there?
Prabhupāda: One week.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Short. You were only in Moscow?
Guru-kṛpā: That is the rich city. People are fighting to get into that city, they only allow so many people to live there.
Prabhupāda: Everything restricted.
Guru-kṛpā: You cannot just decide to move to Moscow. You cannot do that. You must take permission from the government to live in Moscow.