Distribution in Chennai

[Vijaya Baladeva das]

I had a nice experience distributing books recently at West Mambalam
Station
Road in Chennai, South India).

A boy was cycling towards me. He was in his early twenties and wore a
sleeveless T-shirt and white shorts. He was riding a sporty bicycle.
And he
wore bright Sri Vaishnava tilak. As he came nearby I showed him the
books I
had. He said he was interested in reading religious books and has lots
of
them at home. I explained to him the glories of the Karttik month and
why he
must read these books. He said he didn't have the cash to buy them at
the
moment and thought a bit. He then got a bright idea: he would help me
sell
the books. I agreed, but I first told him to offer a ghee lamp to Lord
Damodar and then come to me. He agreed and when he came back to me he
got
another bright idea.

He said that he will go home and change to traditional dhoti-kurta
dress and
come. I immediately agreed and sure enough he came back dressed like a
Vaishnava. I gave him a couple of small books and a Tamil BTG. As I
was
showing my books to others, I noticed that he wasn't showing the books
and
was simply holding them in his hand. I advised him to catch the
attention of
the people by showing the books. He said that he is waiting for the
right
man to come and then he will show the books. I told him that such a
thing
doesn't happen and the person whom you expect to buy the book will not
buy
and the person who you least expect to buy the books will come forward
to buy. He didn't believe me.

The minutes passed by, and the few people he showed the books to had
absolutely no interest in the books whatsoever. Ten minutes later an
elderly
gentleman approached me looking at the books. He appeared to be in his
seventies and was wearing a tattered shirt over his dhoti. I showed
him the
books, and he asked me questions in crisp and clean English. He made a
suggestion that ISKCON should have a library like the Ramakrishna
Mission
where people can read the books without having to buy them. I promised
him
that I will convey his suggestion to the temple president.

After a little while he was convinced he needed to buy a book and
bought
one. All the while the boy next to me was observing the exchange, and
after
the elderly gentleman left he said, "You were right. I never thought
that
this man would buy the book." He was now fired up, and soon a person
came up
and bought a BTG from him. He was really pleased that he was able to
render
some service.

Later on I saw him enthusiastically preach to other boys of his age.
By
that time it was 8.30 PM, and we all left for the Ashram on KR Koil
St. to have dinner prasadam. The youth was happy to meet the devotees
and
promised to come again.

Earlier one man came to me and took a selection of small books. He
said he
wanted some other books but was not interested in the Bhagavad Gita as
he
already had one. We agreed that I would deliver the books to him at
his
office.

The next day I called him in the morning to ask him if it was OK to
meet him
and he said yes. Just before I left, he called me again to tell me to
bring
all the books I have so that he can tell his colleagues too about
these
wonderful books. I braved the heavy rain and traffic to reach his
office in
Egmore. There he took a Ramayan and the Krsna book and then called his
colleagues. Some of them came forward to buy books. He then suggested
I set
up a book table for a few hours in the near future and that way
everyone in
the office will have an opportunity to buy the books. He also wanted a
list
of the books so that he can forward it to his colleagues in advance so
that
they will come prepared with the money.

I now understand why some book distributors want to distribute books
all the
time. The bliss of distributing books is different from the bliss
experienced when serving in the temple or from any other service for
that
matter. I have now realised that spiritual bliss comes in many
varieties and
this is what makes practicing Krsna consciousness so sweet.

Ys

Sarvananda das