Vijaya das: While at the Los Angeles Ratha Yatra recently, a devotee came to the table where I was distributing books. His name is Kridayananda dasa from Brazil.
As we were talking, he mentioned that he joined when he was 12 years old. Generally, when we hear this, we think his parents are devotees. Nope, not this devotee.
He read Chant and Be Happy. After reading it, he thought, "This is what I want. I want to be a devotee." After finding out where the temple was, he would take a one-hour bus ride every day to attend the morning program.
Then a devotee, seeing his sincerity, asked if he would like to join. He didn't know he could just join, so he enthusiastically replied, "Yes." But there was a problem: he was only 12 years old.
He asked his father if he could join, and his father said, "No." He had an aunt that he was close to, so he asked her if she could talk her brother into it. She did, and he joined the temple.
This was in 1984, when book distribution in Brazil was on fire—everyone was distributing books. So he joined the book distribution party and loved it. Book distribution, giving Krishna to others, brought him even more happiness.
Your servant,
Vijaya das