When Acyuta Gopi was born in New York, she was two months premature and weighed less than a kilo, which complicated her survival. The singer’s parents, who had joined the Hare Krishna Movement (ISKCON) in 1974, turned to Lord Krishna for deriving strength and praying for their daughter’s life.

“Bhagavad Gita made so much sense to my parents that it changed their lives, and of those around them. When I was at the hospital, my mom would read the holy scripture, and my father would chant ‘Hare Krishna’ to me. And they just prayed that everything would work out,” Acyuta Gopi reveals in a conversation with mid-day.com.

“We have a tradition in our family. There are beautiful deities of Sri Sri Radha Govinda here in New York. When I finally left the hospital after a few months in the incubator, my parents took me straight to the temple, put me at the altar and said, ‘Sri Sri Radha Govinda, if you desire, you can make everything work. It's up to you’,” she adds, stressing that Lord Krishna literally saved her life and she has been worshipping him ever since.