I said, “Yes,” and I smiled at him.
He said, “I wish to give you a piece of advice: you run too much! I always see you running on 150th Street, on the Grand Central Service Road and at other places. At our age we should walk.
“I saw you the other day while I was walking. I tried to catch up with you to tell you not to run, but you ran ahead. I know you are not going to accept my advice. So keep up what you are doing.”
What could I do? I thanked him profusely.
LS 92. 19 July 1984↩
When I saw the jackfruit, I wanted to buy some, but the store manager didn’t want to sell any. Instead, he gave us three times as much as we wanted — free!
While we were eating the fruit, the manager came with three pieces of another kind of fruit, which he said was even more delicious than jackfruit. That also the manager wanted to give us free.
Then Kishore told him who I was, but the man said he already knew.
LS 93. 6 October 1984↩
The manager of Marine Midland Bank noticed me walking by and knocked on the window, waving for me to come in. So I went into the bank and we talked. He told me his daughter is studying yoga in Sarama’s class.
LS 94. 4 November 1984↩
I told him, “The restaurant owner is my student.”
Then the man said, “I understand you do many things for peace. What do you actually want for the world?”
I said, “I do not want or expect anything from the world. Only I want to become a better person.”
Then I smiled and he also smiled. He looked like Nayak.
LS 95. 1 December 1984↩
I told him, “Yes!” Then I used my intuitive capacities and said, “And you have a German consciousness.
He said, “I was born in Cologne.”
Then I asked him to write down Cologne the way they write it in German. He said his parents are from Spain, but his father worked in Germany for a few years and that is where he was born. He knew a little bit of German, and he started saying things in German.
I went out to search for some of our German boys who could talk to him, but by the time I found them, this little fellow had disappeared.
LS 96. 19 December 1984↩
The man said, “No, he is Moroccan.” Then he asked me, “Are you Muslim?”
I said, “No, I am Hindu.”
He said, “Oh no, you are Muslim. I can see you are an Arab.”
Then he asked me how old I was, and I told him. He told me that his father was 105 years old and showed us his picture. The father had been married five times and had 21 children.
Based on what he told us, the man in the store would be over 40 years old. So jokingly I asked him, “Are you 29 years old?”
He said, “Twenty-nine!” Then he took off his hat and showed me his bald head. He was so nice to us. He was showing us all his instruments. He explained how one skin instrument immediately changes for the better when exposed to fire. Then he set fire to a piece of wood and put it over the skin frame, and it sounded so much better.
LS 97. 31 December 1984↩
LS 98. 7 January 1985↩
She said, “You need it. Please buy it as a gift.”
So he paid her two dirham and took the necklace. Then he said, “This is now mine. So I want to give it to you.” Then he gave her back the necklace.
This is how he got rid of the lady who was bothering him.
LS 99. 9 January 1985↩
Whatever the price was, I gave it to the man. Then he wanted to give me the broken ones.
I said, “But I want the whole ones.”
He said, “Oh, the taste is the same.”
I said, “But my eyes won’t appreciate them.”
Then he looked at me and asked, “Are these for you or for somebody else?”
I said, “They are for somebody else.”
He said, “Why didn’t you tell me? All right, I will bring the other kind.”
LS 100. 1 February 1985↩
I said, “Since you are so kind, can you not come down to $100?”
Then he said, “I am better than you — $99.”
What an experience!
Then his wife said, “Please take your picture now, and when you lose weight with the help of our exerciser, send us another picture. Then we will keep both pictures here in our store so that people can see how much weight they can lose.”
I was so amused, but I didn’t have a camera with me.
LS 101. 19 February 1985↩
The young man asked me about the United Nations. He was speaking with such respect.
Then he admitted to me that he cannot tune any of his instruments. He said his workers tune them.
I said to him, “I can’t tune my instruments either.”
LS 102. 18 March 1985↩
When we went inside, they drew a screen around the kitchen so they could tell us that everything was being cooked fresh. They were delaying like anything — just pretending they were making it fresh.
After ten minutes I told them that we had already seen the food cooked and to please give it to us. They didn’t deny it; they just laughed and gave us the food. Otherwise, they would have kept us waiting an hour, pretending that they were cooking it.
LS 103. 23 March 1985↩
The lady brought us one that cost $65. I liked it so much. I asked, “Can you give us an expensive bow?”
She said, “You don’t get a bow.” Then she gave me a rotten bow.
At first she couldn’t find the case. Buy a violin, but there is no case! Finally she found one.
She knew English well, but all the time she was talking in German. Just as we were ready to go, she started speaking English. For four or five minutes she had to speak to us in English!
So this is how we got the violin that Projjwal bought me on his birthday.
LS 104. 2 April 1985↩
I said, “This is as bad as my eighth-class disciples.” The one Projjwal got me on his birthday was much better.
So money does not talk here!
LS 105. 2 April 1985↩
The shopkeeper said, “For you, it will be free.”
I said, “I don’t take anything free.”
He said, “We sell it for $12. For you, $10.”
I said, “Fine.”
There was one movie named “Trishul.” I said, “I have a student named Trishul, so I will take this one.”
The man said, “Oh no, Swamiji. That is not for you!”
See how nice the shopkeeper was. He knew that it was a romantic movie. He was sincere.
LS 106. 19 May 1985↩
A man was playing a saxophone very loudly in the store. He was taking everybody’s ghost out of the body!
LS 107. 25 May 1985↩
She said, “Oh, sure.”
I asked her to convert the total cost from Canadian dollars into American dollars.
She said, “It is $165.”
I said, “How can it be?”
She said, “This is what the register says.”
I was laughing, and she was getting mad at me. She asked me to wait for her supervisor.
I said, “I am ready to wait for your supervisor.”
When he came, the supervisor apologised to me. He said, “She has just joined us. She doesn’t know the difference between Canadian and American money.”
Then, when the supervisor converted the cost, it became $85.
LS 108. 9 June 1985↩
When I got to the cash register, the lady placed her hand on my shoulder and asked, “Are you going to pile your plate still higher?”
The plate was so small! Out of twenty items, I won’t take a little of each?
Saraswati was behind me, but she didn’t have the heart to insult the lady.
LS 109. 8 July 1985↩
I said, “Yes, I am ready to pay!”
Then he told me that I have a very big heart.
I bought $70 or $80 worth of books, and he had to tell me that only if I paid for my book would he be able to buy two more of my books!
LS 110. 8 July 1985↩
He asked me, “Why are you giving me this?”
I said, “You gave me advice for so long.”
Then Savyasachi told him, “It is an Indian custom. The first customer gives money to the shopkeeper.”
Afterwards, I told Savyasachi that it is just the opposite: It is the shopkeeper who gives a good price to the first customer of the day for good luck. In India you can go into a store at three or four o’clock in the afternoon, and they still say you are the first customer.
LS 111. 8 July 1985↩
I said, “Here it does not work, but it will work at home?”
He said, “Here I have not tried to fix it. But you have many people who can fix it for you. Then it will work.”
I said, “No, I won’t buy it if it is not working.”
He said, “Then don’t come into my shop anymore!”
I said, “Fine, I will not come into your shop.”
Four or five days ago I happened to pass him on the street. He invited me to come into his shop, but I said no.
LS 112. 3 August 1985↩
I was browsing and buying presents for some people. Then I stood on line to pay. Ahead of me were a few people.
A tall, young black man was standing by the register; his charge came to around $17. He handed the lady a bill and said very abruptly, “Keep the change.” Then he quickly left the store.
The lady looked at the bill and saw that it was only a ten-dollar bill, not a twenty-dollar bill, so she came from behind the counter and ran after him, shouting and screaming in Chinese. Her husband also ran after him. But the man had his car right outside, and he just jumped in and drove away.
Everybody felt very sad. When I came up to the cash register, my charge came to $93. I wanted to give the old woman $7 extra to make up for what the black man had done, but she did not want to take it.
I said, “But you are not charging me tax.”
She said, “Oh no, I can’t.”
I insisted and finally she took it. Then she pushed a little toy car across the counter and said, “This is for your children.”
So I was nice to her, and she was nice to me.
LS 113. 3 August 1985↩
LS 114. 29 October 1985↩
Agraha and Kirit were the witnesses; those two gave me inspiration.
LS 115. 17 December 1985↩
LS 116. 17 December 1985↩
LS 117. 22 December 1985↩
They didn’t know English and I didn’t know Japanese, but they were saying so many things to me!
LS 118. 27 December 1985↩
I kept going from floor to floor thinking that that particular floor wouldn’t have music. But there was music on each floor. I am such a fool!
LS 119. 29 December 1985↩
I went to that store three or four times to buy different things because the man was so nice.
LS 120. 29 December 1985↩
Then I went away and came back again. As soon as he saw me, the man started laughing again. I said, “I am going to get the sound.” Finally I made some sound and he was so happy. Then I bought it.
LS 121. 13 January 1986↩
I said, “Please give me a spiritual one.”
He gave me one about Lord Shiva’s sacred place in the Himalayas. I believed him when he said it was in perfect Bengali, so I bought it.
When I watched the film, it was not in Bengali at all. It was in Hindi — and with a silly actor whom I do not like.
Vinaya went and got another one, but it was very undivine. And this was from the same man that I was talking to about spiritual things!
LS 122. 4 February 1986↩
The price of the meal came to 55 rupees. I didn’t have a five-rupee or a ten-rupee note; I had only 50-rupee notes.
I said, “I have only 50-rupee notes. Here are two 50-rupee notes.”
The man saw that I gave him 100 rupees. Then he went to the cashier, only five metres away, and brought me back a five-rupee note as change.
I was so surprised and shocked. I said, “I gave you 100 rupees. You should give me 45 rupees change.”
He said, “No, you gave me sixty rupees, one fifty and one ten.”
Then I told him in pure Bengali that I had given him 100.
LS 123. 1 March 1986↩
So I went to the owner and said, “Five rupees for one glass?”
The owner said “Who has given you this?”
I pointed to the waiter. The man said, “Oh, he cannot have been mistaken. He has been working here for 50 years.”
In Bengali the words for 50 and 15 are very different, so definitely the man said 50 years.
Then I looked at the waiter and said, “Tell me how old you are.”
The waiter said, “I am 21.”
I said, “You are 21, but you have been working here for 50 years! You deserve five rupees.”
As I was coming out of the restaurant, the owner called me and said, “Since I was mistaken, you have to give me only half the price.” Then he gave me three rupees back.
LS 124. 1 March 1986↩
They said that in their lifetime they had never sold any sari for 130 rupees.
I said, “Then do it this time. You will remember it.”
We were talking in Bengali. Then the old man I was talking to came down to 240. Inwardly I was hesitating a little, but outwardly, in my eyes, he could not see my hesitation. I said, “No, I don’t want it!”
Finally, he said, “All right.” Then one of his workers got mad at him for coming down so drastically. The other man said, “He is not the owner. I am the owner.”
Then the old man said, “No, I am the owner!”
At the time, I was thinking that maybe I would go up to 140 or 170. But when the giggling started, I decided I was not going to go up in price because their egos were fighting.
Finally I went to another store and began browsing. The old man from the first store came up to me and said, “I am the owner.”
I said, “What difference does it make if you can’t sell the saris at the price we agreed on?”
He said, “No, I will be able to sell them to you at that price.”
We went back to his store. I thought that the other man would be furious, but he said, “This fellow is telling me that he has agreed to sell you these saris for 130 rupees. So what can I do?”
So I got the saris for 130 rupees.
LS 125. 2 March 1986↩
I asked him, “If I buy five dozen, will you give me five free?”
He said, “Of course.” He was insulting me in Bengali as if I didn’t know Bengali.
He counted out twelve and then started counting out the second dozen. I said, “I won’t get one free?”
He said, “No, let me first count out five dozen.”
After he had counted out the second dozen, he felt sorry for me and he added one extra to the pile.
I said, “Now you are supposed to give me two.”
Again he said, “No, I will give them to you later.”
After he had counted out five dozen, I said, “Now you have to give me four more.”
He said, “No, I was just tempting you! I will give you only one extra.”
I said, “Then I don’t want any.”
He said, “No, you should feel sympathy for me because it took such a long time to count out five dozen.”
So sympathy won over temptation, and I got only one extra.
LS 126. 1 March 1986↩
Then I went browsing in the store. When I was ready to pay, I asked again if they had cut off two metres and they said that they had.
The following day when I took the material to a tailor in Pondicherry, he said, “How can I make trousers for you? This material is not even one metre 75 centimetres.”
LS 127. 1 March 1986↩
He immediately recognised me when I came in. Then he started insulting his workers mercilessly so that he could show me who was the boss. He was insulting them without rhyme or reason!
Suddenly he got a phone call from his house about some emergency, and he went away on his motorbike.
After I finished shopping, the bill came to 1,100 rupees. My friend’s assistant said, “Since you two are good friends, I am sure the boss will reduce the price. So do not fill in the amount on the cheque. Just take the material and tomorrow I will ask him what discount to give you.”
I said to myself, “I didn’t ask for a discount. He is such a nice fellow.”
The following day I was shopping in the same area, so I went into the store and asked the assistant if he had spoken to the boss.
He said, “My boss didn’t come back to work. But you don’t have to worry. He knows your brother Chitta so well.”
I said, “For God’s sake, take the 1,100 rupees. Then I don’t have to worry.” But he insisted that I not fill in the amount on the cheque.
Two hours later, while still shopping in the area, I saw my friend on his motorbike. I shouted to him, “For God’s sake, tell me the reduction on the things I have got from your store so that I can pay.”
He said, “I already told them this morning.”
When I got home, I said to my brother, “This fellow is such a liar. Now you have to go there.”
So my brother went to the store with 1,100 rupees. When he saw that they were going to give me a reduction of only 23 rupees, he got mad. He said, “You keep your 23 rupees. We will not take any reduction at all.”
There the story does not end. Afterwards, my brother said, “I tell you, you will definitely get the same saris much cheaper in other stores.”
So I took one of the saris I had bought and found almost the identical sari for less than half the price at another store. At my friend’s store I paid 89 rupees, and in this store it was only 43. I couldn’t believe that I had bought so many saris from my friend for twice the amount that other stores were selling them for.
LS 128. 2 March 1986↩
When I go out, usually I leave my bag with my passport and all my American money inside the house. On one particular day, a new maid was working in the house and my sister had to go somewhere. Since the lock on the safe is not satisfactory, she took out the bag and went looking for me. I said, “Since the lock is not good, let me take the bag with me while I go shopping.”
So I went shopping for saris. Then I realised that I didn’t have the bag with me. I had left it in the rickshaw!
The driver and I had agreed to meet at a fixed place. But, O God, when I came to that place, the rickshaw driver was nowhere to be found! I was looking this side and that side for him. Finally, I saw him sleeping on the front of the rickshaw, waiting in the shade about 70 or 80 metres away.
I asked him, “Where is my bag?”
He answered, “It is on the seat in the back. You didn’t take it with you.”
Since he bad been fast asleep, somebody easily could have come and taken the bag out of the rickshaw, or out of curiosity the driver could have looked in the bag. But when I looked inside the bag, everything was just as I had left it.
Rickshaw drivers get two rupees per hour, so I was supposed to give him three or four rupees. Instead I gave him a 50-rupee note. He couldn’t believe it.
LS 129. 2 March 1986↩
O my God, I was so embarrassed. I didn’t recognise her at all.
She was so surprised that I didn’t recognise her. She said, “I am Coo-Coo’s mother.”
Coo-Coo is the nickname for Vinay Verma, the Deputy Ambassador of India to the United Nations. We were brought up together and for a year his mother had taught me English.
She said she was able to recognise me because Vinay Verma had sent her a picture taken of the two of us at our recent meeting in Queens. So she recognised me, but I could not recognise her.
Then she begged me to come to her house. I wanted to go, but as usual, five or ten people were at our house waiting for me. Always so many people come to our house when I am there. I have so many things to tell them and they have so many things to tell me — endless stories!
LS 130. 2 March 1986↩
The Bombay shopkeeper used undivine words about the fellow in that story. Then he asked me where I came from. I said, “I am from Bengal, but I live in America.”
He said, “My son lives in Manhattan.”
I said, “Tell me your son’s name. In Manhattan many people know me.”
He said, “My son is not leading a good life, so I do not want to give you his name.”
I said, “You can tell him about me.”
He said, “You seem to be a very nice man. I don’t want to tell you his name, and I don’t want to tell him your name.”
Then I bought the handkerchiefs from him. The price was cheaper than what I had paid the man in Calcutta who gave me only one extra.
LS 131. 2 March 1986↩
Finally I had to surrender to his insults because I liked the picture frames so much.
LS 132. 2 March 1986↩
The man told me the price — five dollars. Indian rupees they do not accept — only American dollars or British pounds. I had Indian currency, but the only American currency I thought I had was a hundred-dollar bill. So before I ate, I asked the man if he would be able to give me change.
The man said, “Yes, easily!”
When it was time to pay, I looked in my bag and found both a hundred-dollar and a twenty-dollar bill. I said, “I can give you a twenty-dollar bill.”
The man said, “No, you give me the hundred-dollar bill. I will be able to give you change.”
He took the hundred-dollar bill, and then he gave me a ten-dollar bill in return. He was looking for more money, but be had only three one-dollar bills.
I said, “Give me back my hundred-dollar bill and take my twenty-dollar bill.”
What kind of rogue God created! He said I hadn’t given him a hundred-dollar bill. He said I had only given him the twenty.
My blood boiled! I said, “I am calling the police!” and started to walk away.
Then he gave me my hundred dollars back. I had got thirteen dollars from him in change, and he was supposed to give me two more dollars, but I just called him a rogue and threw my twenty dollars at him.
Then I left the place, absolutely furious. Even now when I tell the story, I feel such disgust for rogues like this.
LS 133. 2 March 1986↩
Then I saw a sweater that cost 1,000 marks. I said, “Expensive!”
The saleslady said, “First of all, it is expensive. Second, it is for ladies!”
The sweater was not in the men’s section.
LS 134. 7 June 1986↩
The man asked, “Where do you come from?”
I said, “From India.”
He said, “That’s why you speak like that.”
Then I asked him, “Where do you come from?”
He said, “From Greece.”
So I said, “We are brothers, we are brothers!”
He was finding fault with my pronunciation of ‘garlic.’ But he himself was speaking broken English.
When I first came to America, I used to feel a little sad when people could not understand me. But now I don’t have to repeat words like ‘magnificent’ and ‘table’ because people understand me. Americans may criticise me, but the British — even children — don’t have any problem understanding me.
In Scotland I find it very difficult to understand the people. Three or four times I have to ask them what they are saying. It is too much, too much!
LS 135. 2 November 1986↩
From:Sri Chinmoy,I love shopping, part 3, Agni Press, 1994
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ls_3