Oceanside, San Diego
Chandni Palace - the Indian restaurant where we placed the first rack
Bhakta Chris is a very good friend of mine. Chris first met devotees in Balboa Park, San Diego, where he used to go to distribute pamphlets of the animal protection group he was at the time affiliated with. There he kept running into our brahmacaries who would go there to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. Eventually his soft heart got powerfully drawn towards Krishna. Some months later he moved into the brahmacari ashram and even went on pilgrimage with me to India’s most holy place, Sri Vrindavan Dham. After some time Chris decided to move out of the ashram and resume his secular education while still maintaining Krishna conscious practices. Soon he found himself working a full time job to finance the schooling and at the same time trying to go along with his studies. This hectic schedule kept him away from the devotees for a few months straight.
At that time Chris invited me to visit him in Oceanside. He wanted me to help him place a few book-racks in the area where he lives. He wanted to manage these racks. Devotional service is so powerful that once tested it is hard to live without it.
Chris already had the owner of an Indian restaurant allow him to put a rack there and that’s where we met, on the parking lot in the front of the restaurant. When Chris arrived there he was so happy to see his old buddy that he, to the amazement of the onlookers, paid a full dandavat (prostrated obeisance) on the floor of the parking lot.
Bk. Chris & Bk. Jaimin standing next to our book rack at the Chandni Palace restaurant
That Indian restaurant was a really good place to have a book-rack in. Lots of traffic, spacious, clean, and upper class.
Next we managed to place a rack in a smoke shop. Although the fellow working there was Indian, we weren’t able to notice, because the items that the smoke shop carries are so antithetical to the traditional Indian spiritual culture. He revealed his identity after letting us place a rack in his store.
Smoke shops are great places for our racks. They are frequented by young alternative minded people. Just the type we like.
Our third and last rack was placed in a bicycle shop, a huge store. This was a really nice surprise as we never expected the owners to let us place our rack in such a fancy schmancy store. Corporate stores always have carefully written policies that make it super difficult to get any kind of promotional material in, especially religious stuff. Nevertheless the manager pronounced the magic “yes” and we instantly rushed off to get a rack out of our car and into the store before he changed his mind. Excitement flooded our hearts. As we were mounting the rack, we were in shock to have cracked such a nice store. One of the workers was the first one take a book.
Finally, the time came for us to return to the temple. We were all feeling very, very happy to have distributed all those books. We also left several cases of books with Bk. Chris to restock the racks as it may be needed. Just before we left Bk. Chris gave us a gift of prasadam, a neatly packed fresh pilled mangos.
If our readers would like to get involved with the book-rack program please let us know.
Hare Krishna
Bh. Chris
Our rack in the Chandni Palace restaurant
Bk. Chris & Bk. Jaimin standing next to our book rack at the Chandni Palace restaurant
Book rack that we placed in the Smoke Shop
Bk. Chris & Bk. Jaimin in the Smoke Shop next to our book rack
Our book rack in the bicycle shop
The bicycle shop
The bicycle shop’s entrance
Bk. Jaimin & Bk. Chris getting a rack ready to place in the bicycle shop ”…and we instantly rushed off to get a rack out of our car and into the store.”
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Your Contributions
San Diego Sponsors:
Vraja Vadhu Devi Dasi $191.00
Madhavendra Puri Dasa $172.71
Shyama Priya Devi Dasi $183.00
Suresh Dasa $64.46
Anadi Dasa $35.60
Jayram Shetty $25.00
Nitin & Jayshri Patel $11.00
Advaita Candra Dasa $5.00
TOTAL: $687.77
Los Angeles Sponsors:
Vamsi Dasa’s family $366.00
Cesar O. Lopez $30.00
Tirtharthi Dasa $25.00
TOTAL: $421.00
GRAND TOTAL: $1,108.77
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Distribution to Institutions
1,236 books!!! have been placed in the following institutions:
[#] [Donated to] [Address] [City]
5423 GNC 18452 Yorba Linda Boulevard Yorba Linda
5424 Vogue Nails 18232 Imperial Highway Yorba Linda
5425 Conroy’s Flowers 18452 Yorba Linda Boulevard Yorba Linda
5426 Capelli International 18264 Imperial Highway Yorba Linda
5427 Mike’s Trim Yorba Linda Boulevard Yorba Linda
5428 Dr.jeff Lin 3242 Riverside Drive Chino
5429 Chandni Palace Indian Cuisine 3809 Plaza Dr. #115 Oceanside
5430 Smoke Shop 3809 Plaza Dr. #110 Oceanside
5431 Bicycle Warehouse 1964 Hacienda Dr. Vista
5432 Corona Dental Plaza 1222 Magnolia Ave. Corona
5433 DZ Akins Bakery and Deli 6930 Alvarado Rd. San Diego
5434 Palm Springs Liquor 4301 Palm Ave. La Mesa
5435 Farmers Market 9040 Campo Rd. Spring Valley
5436 Cottage Art 18039 Pioneer Blvd. Artesia
5437 India International Bazaar 717 S Harbor Blvd. Fullerton
5438 Palm Street Liquor 4301 Palm Ave. La Mesa
5439 DZ Akins Bakery and Deli 6930 Alvarado Rd. San Diego
5440 SDSU 5844 Montezuma Rd. San Diego
