We went to the Asian Plaza in San Jose going shop to shop in this Oriental marketplace. It was my first shop-to-shop experience. I did not spend much time (about two hours only), but it was a very satisfying experience. Vaisesika Prabhu was absolutely right on the dot when he said this regarding Shop-to-Shop Book Distribution:
- The people are always at home
- They have their wallets with them
Book distribution started in earnest right in the middle of the parking lot, where Malini mtj convinced a Vietnamese gentleman to set set aside a large bread roll that he was relishing and listen to transcendental talks. He took the book, gave donation, posed for a picture (thanks to Shailesh prabhu's excellent camera) and offered us the rest of his bread saying it was the best:). We politely declined but asked him from where he had bought it.
I had never seen Kameshwari Mtj speak fluent Spanish. I was amazed to see her rattle off with a Mexican lady who was selling cherries. The lady had no money, but later on when we met her again she took a book and gave a donation. The fact that it was a book written in their own language was an immediate hook.
At a beauty salon, we were almost successful in giving away a Bhagavad-gita to the owner, but her employee somehow convinced her in Vietnamese not to take it :(
When we went into the bakery next, opening the conversation was very easy; all we had to do was tell the person at the counter that people out in the parking lot were raving about her goods. Needless to say she took a book. A gentleman had come from San Francisco, also said that this was the best baked goods that he had ever eaten. "Wait till you have a chance to eat what Hansapriya and Nirakula Matajis bake", I said to myself. He too took a book.
We went into a Laundromat, and I saw Malini mtj patiently extract a donation out of a person on whom I had given up long ago. When I entered into another shop I saw Kameshwari mtj and Malini mtj give a Vietnamese Bhagavad-gita to a shop owner who also posed for us holding the Gita in his hand.
Ever heard of the Christian Book pack? Well, I saw Malini mtj give The Christian Book Pack to a lady who had refused to take the Bhagavad-gita saying that she was a Christian!
I had two experiences that I will fondly remember. I was in some kind of a juice shop next to the famous bakery talking to a young man and showing him the books. He was joined by his beautiful wife who is going to have a baby soon. She had stayed silent all along our conversation, and so I was pleasantly surprised when at the end she said that she would read the book to the child in her womb!
The next one was this Chinese young man who was hesitating to take the book since the old lady next to him (his mother I presume) kept whispering, "Donation, donation". Anyway he took a small Chinese book and gave me a dollar. I thanked him and left him to enjoy the juice and the book. After some time when I happened to walk across the juice shop again, he came running after me and said that he had been reading the book and found it worth more than the $1 he had given me. He gave me even more! Some men just never listen to their mothers...
I had to leave early that day. As I drove back I was thinking about, and thanking the people who spend countless hours painstakingly translating the books, and how much important it is to have our transcendental literature available in as many languages as possible. I had seen the instant connection in people's eyes when they see a book in their native language appear in a foreign land! I am sure Bhaktivinoda Thakura is smiling at all of us.
I was also thanking the book distribution process. Thanks to this MSF, I drove for first time on 280 - a freeway I had always feared- not knowing that if used properly, it can take you back to Godhead!
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