Monday, December 14th, 2009

Krishna Yuletide

Regina, Saskatchewan

Victoria mall was my venue for walking for an hour. People from the edge of Regina and local farmers come to shop here. Santa Clauses’ seat was ready for him and a spectacular set of mock reindeer taking off in the sky was the backdrop in the warm corridor of the mall. In the absence of the guy in red was the guy in orange who got the attention. Sorry Santa!

For me to say “Merry Christmas was the natural ice breaker for people. To that they would say, “Thank-you”. It would get the smile out. As I paced up and down one woman just had to ask, “how much distance do you have to cover in a day?”

Here she broke the ice, and then we talked.

A member of the mall staff broke the ice too, “looks like you’re warming up?” he assumed. We talked.

It was mid-day and it was good being out, or rather, where people converge.

My host in Regina is Jagannatha aka Jai Ram a Krishna devotee in his seventies and one of the foremost palm readers in the Canadian prairies. He took me to attend a funeral for a doctor in the community. It was a Muslim ceremony and many people turned up to offer condolences. May Allah keep and watch over him.

Jagannatha then drove us home where his wife Cintamoni started cooking for an evening get together. It was great seeing Jim (now Jagadish) make spiritual progress. After 35 years of working for the government he retired and decided to give more time to Krishna, which is a different name for the same god, Allah.

Jagadish, Dinesh, Jai Ram, Cintamoni, daughter Kavita and I ornamented a Christmas tree (Kavita’s wish) while we chanted and enjoyed each other’s devotional company. The prasadam (Krishna food) was great but for me the icing on the cake (or the star on the Christmas tree) was everyone’s singing the maha-mantra to the tune of “Amazing grace”.

3 Km