Satisfaction
Having walked into an office full of realtors in Kaohsiung, a city in the south of Taiwan, I looked around and decided that the best tactic to get these people to take books was to be bold – as loud and blasé as possible I said, "My Chinese is very poor," in my broken Chinese. "Is your English not bad?" This tends to bring a smile to the face of even the most stoic Chinese linguist. In this case, Mr. Chien, a slightly large and jovial gentleman in a suit, came forward, shook my hand and cleared a space for me to sit at the office table.
I sat and so did he. I joked and so did he. But when the crunch came, i.e. "take a book and please give a donation," he rummaged in his pockets, pulled out his wallet and showed me that it was empty. This often happens. It's a means of saving face when not wanting to give a donation.
And so I bade farewell, walked out of the office and began walking down the street to continue my service. A few minutes later, as I was about to approach a doctor, a different gentleman in a suit, who turned out to be a Mr. Wu, tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to follow him. He took me back to the realtor office but Mr. Chien was not there. Mr. Wu gestured, since he could not speak English, that i should wait, he then proceeded to make a call on his cellphone. This took time and I'm impatient. I gave him a book to give to Mr. Chien free of charge – after all he had taken all that trouble to bring me back – and I prepared to leave.
However, as I began to walk away Mr. Chien turned up on his moped and handed me a good sized donation. He had gone home to get it. Mr. Wu matched the donation and I was left with no other option but to take some time out with them and chat. They asked questions and I did my best to answer. I joked and a good time was had, I think. Eventually we all parted company in a happy mood.
The next day I was in the same area and as I was passing the same office I popped my head around the door to say "Nihao" that means something like "hello." Mr. Chien was at his table reading the book I left him. He was happy to see me but told me that he couldn't understand much in the book. What could i do? I decided to guide him to the back of the book to introduce him to the mahamantra. It took him two or three goes but he eventually mastered it. I must mention here that if you know me I'm not one for exaggerating, but Mr. Chien seemed to be in a mild state of ecstasy while chanting.
After a few more words I again left the office considering that I had done my duty. What else could I do? Two days later I was again walking in that same area when a gentleman on a scooter pulled up in front of me. It was Mr. Chien. This time smiling from ear to ear and in a bold and confident voice he proclaimed… "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare." We spoke a little and we again parted company. Satisfaction!
Your servant,
Aisvarya dasa
