Diwali Event in Toronto
We did sankirtan at a banquet hall where there was a Diwali Event.
We got there at 5:30 and met with resistance by one of the management as soon as we walked in. However, we persevered and were able to get our table and things setup. Everyone was cooperative except for that one fellow we will call "Angry Man," who had many objections: only one table and only in this corner; no pictures of Srila Prabhupada or Sri Sri Radha-Gopinatha; no distributing beyond the table, and so on!
Mayur, Vicky, Jessica, Radhapriya and I kept approaching everyone and doing our best. Mayur spoke with a teenage girl who loved the Bhagavad Gita, but did not have money, nor did her mother and brother (or they did want to give). Somehow it dawned on us that this girl was the daughter of Angry Man, so Mayur really wanted her to get the book and he gave it to her.
Later in the lobby, as we were packing up, I talked to Angry Man to "thank" him. His daughter was with him, across from me.
She opened the Gita and asked, "Is this Hindi?"
I told her no, it is Sanskrit and then there is the phonetic English. When Angry Man saw the Bhagavad Gita in his daughter's hands, the shock on his face was priceless. I told him that she had really wanted the book and so we gave it to her. He asked how much it is — I said, no, it is a gift — but he pulled out ten dollars and handed it to us. Thus despite all his offensive efforts to block Srila Prabhupada's sankirtan movement, he contributed for a Bhagavad Gita that ended up in his house!
Another quick incident: I was speaking with an old gentleman and showing him the books by Srila Prabhupada. He was a professor in Nairobi and had read the Bhagavad Gita As It Is. He said that he already has many, many books by others and that the power of ISKCON is Srila Prabhupada's pure and authentic books.
We left the hall at 1:30 a.m. and went to Vicky's home, where his mother had kindly prepared wonderful prasadam for us.
Totals for this event: 115 Books and $900.
Your Servent
Vijaya Das
