A few weeks into August, I grudgingly wake up at around 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning. As I turn off my alarm clock, get out of bed, and start to get ready, I wonder why on earth I am getting up so early during my summer vacation. Then, like a splash of cold water awakening my drowsy consciousness, I remember that it is Sri Balarama’s Appearance Day and I am on my way to help distribute Srila Gurudev’s books and posters at the Festival of India in Fremont. As soon as I remember this, I am excited and happy that this day and the next will be a perfect opportunity to serve Srila Gurudev. I go downstairs and get the boxes of books ready, and wait for Hrdaya Govinda prabhu and Radha.
Before I know it, we are on our way and soon reach the festival site. As usual, Ranga dd is there on time greeting us with a cheerful grin. We unload and decorate our booth and tables with saris, posters, frames, and books. I survey the other booths at the festival, and I think ours is definitely the most beautiful. After setting up, we do a short kirtan and pray that these two days will be a success. In no time at all, streams of people start entering the festival site and exploring our booth.
Our booth is like a precious island full of jewels, and the people outside are like wandering fish in the sea. Hrdaya Govinda is the fisherman, catching the fish with his friendly greetings and reeling them into shore. (Don’t worry, we’re vegetarians so we don’t eat them J) I am shy and lazy a lot of the time and feel unqualified to speak to people about all of these wonderful books, but Ranga dd continuously inspires me to be enthusiastic. So many people come by, drawn by the beautiful posters and books. For every person that comes by the booth, whether they leave with literature or not, we give them a flyer for our local center. We also give them a biography of Srila Gurudev, a small book, and ask if they would like to sign up for the Harikatha mailing list and/or Nama hatta programs.
By Baladev’s mercy, we made enough donations in just two day's to cover the cost of the books and table. We even had extra profit to donate to Navadwip! Just this past weekend, we had a very successful Nama Hatta program at a person’s home, whom we met at the festival. We hope to continue to build a relationship with this very sweet family and the community in that area and beyond. Srila Gurudeva ki jai!! –Gopika dasi
Oh My Goodness! Sharing is so much fun! Hrdayagovinda Prabhu, Ranga Didi, Gopika Didi, and I went to Freemont for the Festival of India 2008 event. Thousands of curious souls walked booth to booth to check out what caught their eye. And as Gopika said, of course ours was super cool and amazing. By Gurudeva’s and Lord Baladeva’s blessings people purchased Gurudeva’s potent books and beautiful posters, and for each purchase we gave them a baggy of popcorn prasadam, which made them feel cared for. At first we were kind of shy, but no problem, that went away with time. It was evident that just as Nike ads advise, we had to “Just Do It”, accept that Gurudeva and Sri Krsna were going to guide the people, and of course help us be bold. We took down the names of people who were interested in receiving Hari-katha and/or hosting Nam-hatta programs at their homes or attending programs. Then from that list we sent out an e-mail, and one person responded. So we did a program at his house, and over 60 people attended. After that successful program he is now interested in having monthly programs at his house, and wants to invite 100 people next time. It’s so wonderful to see Krsna do His God thing in people’s sincere hearts. –Radha dasi
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