Book Distribution Nectar at the Mines
From darkness of nescience to light of Godhead
These are the activites of the bus party of ISKCON Chowpatty that went to the coal mines last year.
One day we went to an area which had one open and one underground mine. When we reached the underground mine, we found that the workers had already gone inside. So there was no use waiting. We went to the open mine. When we reached there, two officers came and saw our bus. "Arre, Swami ji! Why have you come here?-to waste your time? No one is going to buy your books. All these are illiterate people. They waste their time in drinking and eating meat. They will not even touch your books." They laughed as we put up our banner and table. It was so discouraging. Then one officer came and said, "Most of the workers have already become subscribers of a periodical of '@#%' organization. Our big officer is a very active member of that organization and he actively makes every worker a subscriber. There is no scope for your books."
We did not have any option; we could not return, so we decided to stay. Then we learnt about the project office and decided to send two devotees there. Rupa Raghunatha Prabhu decided to stay in the open mine. We reached the project office. It was a typical government office with an atmosphere of sheer lethargy. It was 10:30 am, still just one officer had arrived for work. We asked him for permission, but he said that we had to meet the project officer (P.O.). Just then the jeep of (P.O.) and we quickly got permission. We set our table under a big tree right opposite the front gate so that everyone crossing the road could see us. For an hour we simply sat; no one came. We became totally hopeless. I then sent Murgesh Prabhu with 3 sets and asked him to show the books to the staff at their table and take their signs. He distributed about 2 sets, most of the staff said that they would visit the table. Then one by one officers came, saw the books and without much preaching simply took full sets. By lunch we sold about 18 sets. We had only 2 sets remaining. Then the staff told us that we should go to the underground mine, since it was the time for shift change.
We called the bus and shifted to the underground mine. While we were setting up our stall, a well-dressed man came from the office straight to our table. "What do you have?" he asked, and began flipping through Srila Prabhupada's books. "Nice!" he said and put the books down and rushed to the jeep.
"Who was he?" I asked.
"Chief officer," the time-officer replied. "He is a big preacher like you of @#% organization."
"Oh, so he is the person," I thought. "What is his name?"
We found out his name and then carried on our job. Just then a jeep arrived and a nice gentleman came out and went to right to our stall.
"What books you have?" he said. "I got a call that you are distributing Bhagwad Gita. I was on field visit; therefore, I missed your sale in the office in the morning. But then a friend called me and informed me about you. Now I will take the books."
He had come all the way from the office where we had distributed books in the morning, looking for Srila Prabhupada's books.
Later in the evening we packed up the stall and called Rupa Raghunatha Prabhu. When he came he told us about the unimaginable. The senior officer preacher who left our stall without books went next straight to the mine where Rupa Raghunatha Prabhu had set up his stall. He spent some time reading Srila Prabhupada's books and then came to the inevitable conclusion: 'These are great books,' he said and took the full set. We used this event in our favor and told every one that about him. He was a man of good reputation and many took books simply when they heard about his choice.
Your Servant
Murari Gupta Das
