Mercy at the mall
It was a quiet day at the shopping mall where I had my book table, and I was praying for some mercy. A South Indian lady was eager to take many books and wanted to give me only a couple of dollars. Then a gentleman (Nayak) showed up and said, “Give her whatever books she wants. Don’t worry about the money; it’s on me.” I thought he was her husband. So she took what she wanted and gave $2 and walked away. This man then asked what Gujarati books I have. I told him I had only a Caitanya-caritamrita set in Gujarati. He...
read moreExperiencing Krishna’s magic
Recently, I got the opportunity to visit Baltimore, Maryland, to attend the 2017 American College and Research Library Conference. This event is attended by thousands of North American college librarians looking for new books. I traveled from Los Angeles with Sura Dasa, a veteran in book distribution. Together we experienced quite a treat. The first day started out very slow, with hardly anyone taking a book. I became restless and went for a walk outside. While chanting japa, suddenly I heard a big “Haribol!” from a person...
read moreThrilled and blown-away by special customers
In February, I had a book table set up in an Indian shopping mall in Atlanta. A lady walked by, along with her teen-age son. I called them over to give them some prasada. I gave both a spoonful of maha-halava. The mother said, “We have all these books.” The boy liked the new BBT book by my Gurudeva, Devamrita Swami, and she bought it for him. A couple of weeks later, the boy, Nikhil, approached my book table and put a nice donation in the donation box and asked for a Gita. I felt thrilled. He reminded me that I had sold him...
read moreAn unsung hero
Last year, when I was in Ljubljana, Slovenia, I was invited to visit Belgrade, Serbia. In the 1990s the devotees there had a big temple, which eighty devotees lived in. There were thirty-five full-time book distributors. Now, unfortunately, they have no temple. But there is a book distributor carrying the baton: Dharma Dasa (an appropriate name). Before he joined ISKCON he was a hardcore atheist. But one day his mother came home with a Science of Self Realization. From time to time, she was going to the Sunday feast, and she would ask him to...
read moreGood Friday Magic
Today I went to Newtown, Wellington, to distribute books. As soon as I arrived I noticed that most shops were closed and the streets were quiet. I had forgotten that it was Good Friday! After a few exchanges on the street, I decided to go door to door. I knocked at the first door and waited to see who Krishna would arrange for us to meet. A moment later I met James and Emily, a nice young kiwi couple. They had actually just sold the house and were about to move to the south island. As I showed them Bhagavad Gita, their jaws dropped open. They...
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