Back to the USA
We arrived in Los Angeles during the last week of June 1987. We were received by the Sharon and Chris Jensen, who were then living in Oceanside, California. We spent a week with them during which we bought a pre-owned 4-door Toyota Corolla. We then shifted to San Diego to stay with a friend Ms. Barbra Ross. I explored the job market in Southern Califonia and had an interview with the Vice President of the United States International University with no success.

The cost of living in California had increased since we left for India two years earlier and we had to look for a less expensive to relocate. Just out of the blue, Nana suggested Oregon. Though I had not met him, I contacted Dr. Walrod who lived in St. Helens, Oregon. He was the one who had responded to my proposal for setting up an International Girls School in India and had talked about his farm in St. Helens. After hearing my story he realized our immediate need and encouraged us to locate in St. Helens, which was a relatively inexpensive little town away from the industrialized city of Portland. He said that he and his wife, a retired cardiologist, would host us till we could find a suitable place to rent. Nana and I agreed to this move, and in early August the whole family, including our pet dog Todo, drove to St. Helens, Oregon.

Move to Oregon
As I was driving to Oregon I realized that this move was a spiritual “bungee jump.” Here I was at the age of 57, unemployed and with an all-time low bank balance, driving with my family and pet to an unknown destination. But my orientation to the unknowns in life has always been positive, and I was sure that I would find the bungee cord of hope and faith in my “guardian angel” to cling to.

We took the scenic California Highway 1 and visited Hearst Castle and Monterey Bay. Todo was a good traveler. We stopped in San Francisco for two nights with Beverly and Fred Miller, a Bahá’í family we had known in Panchagani. Beverly, who was then teaching at the Sonoma State University, took me to her Dean to investigate possible openings for me in that institution. In Oregon we stayed about three weeks with the Walrods St. Helens. Their farm had seven dogs and several lamas. Todo was happy to run with the pack of dogs.

We rented a two-bedroom house in a nearby community. Our shipment from Delhi arrived. As usual Nana set up the household with furniture bought at Goodwill stores. After Labor Day we put the children in the local schools. Shaku was evaluated and put in a Special Education program. I spent my time at the local library typing my resume and patiently applying for jobs. In fact I was interviewed for an advertised position in the St. Helens School District as Staff Developer in Early Childhood Education. I was thrilled to get an appointment letter one fine morning but was shocked to receive a call from the District that same afternoon saying that they had reconsidered and regretfully reversed their decision after sending me the appointment letter. No explanation was given. I took a deep breath and prayed for Divine help. Nana and the Walrods were dumbfounded to hear the news.

Move to Gig Harbor, Washington
After spending three frustrating months I got a positive response from one Dr. Jeffrey Bland, a well known Nutritionist, who owned a Health Communication Company, called HealthComm, in Gig Harbor, Washington. I had known him when I was in Vista and had also written him a letter from Mussoorie. Dr. Bland wanted to have an interview in Gig Harbor which was a two hour drive from St. Helens. I took Nana with me to give me moral support. Jeff was a tall Scandinavian blonde with blue eyes and an imposing personality. He said, “Pattabi you seem to have a broad range of experience in both the hard and soft sciences. Please tell me what you will bring to HealthComm if you join us.” I paused for a moment, as this loaded question needed a precise answer. My response was, “I can take complex medical/nutrition concepts and make them understandable to a variety of audiences. I have the ability to communicate clearly both orally and in writing.” I think he was impressed with my response, his company being “Health Communication.” The interview went well. Jeff asked me to come and see him just before Thanksgiving by which time a contract with a Hong Kong company was expected to come through.

During this first visit I also was introduced to Ms. Sara Benum, the editor of a HealthComm publication called “Complementary Medicine.” Sara inquired if I would be able to contribute an article on children’s learning in two week’s time as their next issue would focus on children’s health. This was whether or not I joined HealthComm, because she would like to have an article from a person with my academic credentials. I agreed to do so. At that time I did not have all the needed references to write a professional article, but on returning home, I managed to write an article called “The Systems View of Development: Understanding Children’s Learning and Behavior” by using the resources of the St. Helens library. I mailed the article to Sara on time.

As requested, I met Jeff before Thanksgiving day and he took me out for lunch in one of the scenic waterfront restaurants in Gig Harbor with his Australian investor. They offered me a position with HealthComm and explained the nature of the job and its salary and perks. I was to come after the New Year to join HealthComm as their Director of Technical and Educational Services. Jeff said that he will be mailing an appointment letter soon but I persuaded him to give it to me, if possible, the very same day when we returned to his office. I did not want the same thing that happened with St. Helens School District. I waited in his office until I finally got the letter in hand late that afternoon. I wasted no time in calling Nana to give her the good news. It had been seven months without any income.

After celebrating a wonderful Christmas with the family in St. Helens, I joined HealthComm on Jan 2, 1988. I rented a studio apartment in Gig Harbor, not far from my office, and began my work in earnest. For five months I traveled to St. Helens to be with the family on weekends, since it was a two-hour drive door-to-door. The children were doing well in their schools and Shaku got the needed program in Special Education. Nana did volunteer work at the school, which within walking distance.

We bought a three-bedroom house in Gig Harbor and moved from St. Helens in June, 1988. Nana planted a tree during the first week and said, “Pattabi, I am not moving from this place. You can go any where you want to.” Vivek went to Kopachuck Middle School for his 6th grade. Shaku started 8th grade in the Special Ed program of Gig Harbor High School, but had to move her to another location where the program was better.

A few weeks after we settled into our home in Gig Harbor, Davis Phelps, a member of the local Bahá’í group, came to our house to welcome us. He expressed his joy that our moving to Gig Harbor has opened a chance to have the first ever Spiritual Assembly in Gig Harbor. There were already seven adult Bahá’ís, and nine were needed to elect a Local Spiritual Assembly. Nana told him that she did not want to be involved anymore with the Bahá’í Faith and therefore did not want to be a member of the Assembly. This came as a surprise to me, but we are told in the Bahá’í writings that Bahá’ís who want to leave the Faith should not be pestered or pressured to change their decision. Whether Nana is a Bahá’í or not did not diminish in any way my love for her. I prayed for her and respected her decision. She had no objection in my participating in the Bahá’í community activities.

My work in HealthComm
Dr. Jeffrey Bland, the owner of HealthComm had worked with the Noble Prize winner Linus Pauling in California and also taught nutritional science at The Evergreen State College in Olympia,Washington. He was a genius in several aspects. Jeff was the first to create the concept of Functional Medicine as a discipline that married progress in basic medical sciences with clinical medicine to address the growing problems associated with chronic disease. Functional medicine addresses the underlying causes of disease, using a systems-oriented approach and engaging both patient and practitioner in a therapeutic partnership. By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, functional medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. HealthComm was also a clearing house for information published in the biomedical scientific journals, more particularly on preventive medicine. It was also involved in producing a weight-loss product, a specialized protein powder called UltraBalance. They had just then finished its clinical trial and were ready to market it.

For the first time I had a personal computer. A young coworker, Frank Debiase, educated me in its use and showed me how to access the HealthComm information storage system. There was no World Wide Web in those days and e-mail was just coming up, so we depended mainly on fax transmission. My first job was to write a product manual for medical practitioners, healthcare specialists, and consumers giving detailed info on the use and therapeutic efficacy of the product when compared to other such products. Jeff as very happy with the impressive, well-documented, and easy-to-read manual that I produced. During that period I also worked on the Hong Kong project of selling nutritional supplements under the name Freedom Concepts. HealthComm sent me to Hong Kong for a seminar to educate the sales personnel.

The first year at HealthComm went exceptionally well. But as ill-luck would have it, HealthComm’s contract with the Hong Kong company, which gave bulk of my salary, came to an abrupt end in April 1989. As they say, I was “last hired, first fired.” This was a severe blow to my morale. Nana fortunately secured a job in the Gig Harbor Golf and County Club’s kitchen as a cook.

Setting up CPLA
Again for a period of seven months I had no job. I had to apply for unemployment benefits. To avoid going into a deep depression I started writing in daily affirmative journals every morning and prayed for Divine help. I took a watercolor painting class given by an excellent teacher, Ms. Marjorie Mankin, and surprisingly I did well. Also, I offered a one-semester evening course, pro bono, on comparative religion under the title “Universals in Religious Experience” focusing only on the history and teachings of non-Judo-Christian religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and modern ecumenical movements which included the Bahá’í Faith. This was through the Continuing Adult Education Department of Tacoma Community College. As the course attracted a good number of students and the evaluation was excellent, the Chairman wanted me to repeat the course for the following semester.

With great resolve and determination, not wanting to work for anyone any more, I set up my own consulting firm in November 1989. I named it The Center for the Promotion of Leaning Abilities, which was the same title that Dan Jordan had used in his last proposal to the Keck Foundation. For this I borrowed $25,000 from the bank and one Dr. Aflatooni, a Bahá’í physician in Bremerton, Washington co-signed the loan application as a guarantor. The mission of CPLA was to:

a) Assess biological integrity with focus on nutritional status.
b) Use differential diagnosis and remediation of ADHD/ADD and learning disabilities.
c) Assess learning styles and use criterion referenced tests, including Guilford’s Structure Of Intellect.
d) Provide Psychological and behavioral counseling/guidance for parents and teachers to build the child’s self esteem.

I was my own boss! I was also my own secretary, promotional department, and mailman. I realized that I could not blame anyone else if this venture fails. I had no website at that time, but I printed several hundred informational brochures which I distributed to the directors of special education in the neighboring schools and the Parent-Teacher Associations. I set up an office for CPLA in the basement of Dr. Afaltooni’s medical building in Bremerton. In three months I had only six children as clients. I got to know the President of Olympic College in Bremerton, Dr. Ron Simpson, whom I met at a meeting on environmental issues sponsored by the Unitarian church. He was interested in what I was doing and through his help I got my first a joint grant from the local church and the Kitsap county Head Start/ECEAP programs to set up a staff training program for their Sunday School, after school, and Head Start teachers. This involved 100 hours of face-to-face contact; the classes were held on Saturdays. There were over thirty paraprofessionals in this training program and I was able to get college credits for these trainees through Olympic College in Bremerton. As the grant enabled me, Dr. Don Streets and Ms. Irene Hartley were invited from Arizona and New England to keynote the opening session. The project lasted for three months and there were of over fifty participants including the parents. It was such a success that Dr. Simpson gave me a contract to work with their Nursing Department to conduct a comprehensive post-graduation survey of over 300 nurses in the alumni since their graduation in 1980.

The setup of CPLA in Dr. Aflatooni’s medical building was not producing the expected number of clients, so I moved out and worked from home. I came to know the work of Catholic Community Services who were contracted by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to provide counseling and remedial services to children at risk. As CPLA was a Washington State registered business enterprise, and I had also registered as a counselor for remedial services for health impaired clients (ADD/ADHD), I got to work for Catholic Community Services from 1991. This involved in-home visits and counseling of at-risk children. I had worked with over fifty families in the two years I was with Catholic Community Services, and for the next two years I got a contract with KPS Health Plan, an insurance company in Bremerton, to work with families on remedial services for their children referred by their primary care physicians. It was these experiences while serving in the two organizations mentioned above that made me realize how poorly the special education teachers trained with respect to understanding differences in learning styles in a population so diverse by culture, ethnicity, and linguistic origin.

For five years from 1994 to 1999 I taught distance learning courses in Human Development in two different Universities, Walden and Capella, one following the other. This involved buying a computer and working from home. I could meet my students only during the Summer Intensive Workshops, which were held in Bloomington, Indiana on on the Northwestern University campus in Illinois. I had more than fifteen students enrolled in each semester. I also taught Education courses in the evenings and at the City University in Bellevue, Washington.

Nana worked for ten years as a cook in the Canterwood Golf Club Restaurant working evening and weekend shifts. Even with all the work I was doing we could barely make ends meet and I had refinance the house twice to unlock the equity and pay off the $25,000 loan. We paid $80,000 for this house in 1988 and we now had a mortgage of $100,000.
Shaku finished high school. It was required by federal law that special education students should be provided ongoing services until the age of twenty-one to prepare them for the job market. Under this provision Shaku finished successfully a two-semester training with a practicum to get her ECE diploma in Child Care at Clover Park Community College in Tacoma. Following that, she started working in day-care centers in the area.

Shaku’s Wedding
In August 1995 Shaku got married to Mick Plunkett. The wedding took place in our backyard on a grand scale. Amazingly, Nana all, by herself, organized and choreographed every detail starting from outdoor table setting, menu planning, cooking the main dishes, and baking the wedding cake. About sixty people attended the wedding including the Streets from Arizona and Nana’s sister from Montreal.

 

 

 

My brother Srinivasan came to visit us in Gig Harbor in December 1992 on his way back from business meetings in Brazil. He was planning to stay for a week but after just one day we got news that my mother had passed away in Chennai and he had to take the next available flight. I followed him a week later to attend the funeral ceremonies. She was truly a nurturing mother in the true sense of the word, displaying unconditional love no matter how deviant my behavior was.

Vivek in College
After finishing as a Grade-A student from Kopachuk Middle School, Vivek went to Gig Harbor High in 1989 and finished in 1993. During this period I gave him weekend driving lessons in the parking lot and neighboring roads of an abandoned air strip in Gig Harbor. The day after he turned sixteen he went for his driver his driver’s test. To our surprise, got his license on his first attempt.

After finishing high school, Vivek was very reluctant to go to College as he was not happy generally with the system of written exams, evaluation, and grading. He knew his subjects well, but could not demonstrate it in written exams. I told him of the student-friendly system at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, which uses the portfolio system for grading. Moreover, Evergreen is a small college with only 3000 students and they welcome student diversity. It was a forty minute drive from our place in Gig Harbor. I asked him to apply for admission and see if it works out. He was admitted and finished his program in Environmental Sciences. I gave him my car and he got a partial scholarship during his first year and lived in the dormitory in Olympia. Over the weekends he worked in the Canterwood Country Club’s kitchen as a busser and dining hall assistant. He made enough money to keep himself happy. He sometimes made more than Nana, at the time that she was working as a cook in the same place.

Vivek’s trip to India
As a gift to mark his successful high school graduation, we sent Vivek on a trip to India. He wanted to gain experience by working in India as a volunteer in a health care organization. He spent initially about ten days with my father and my brother Srinivasan and his family in Surat. My father was so impressed with Vivek’s demeanor and character that my father, yes my father, wrote a complimentary letter directly to Nana praising her for having raised such a nice lad, and saying that he is welcoming Vivek to the Brahmin community.

With the help of Raghuraman, my cousin who lived in Delhi, Vivek got an internship in a health dispensary in Rishikesh, a north Himalayan town near Hardwar. He went through many ordeals which tested him to his limits, and he moved out of that town very shortly. He then traveled to Bangalore and worked as a volunteer with an organization called Myrada, surveying the eating practices of rural pregnant women with the help of an interpreter. He was hosted graciously by my nephew Sridhar and Gita for two months. He also came to know my brother Srinivasan’s son, Anand, who was working for Hewlett-Packard in Bangalore. My brother Srinivasan and his family took Vivek with them for a holiday driving to Ootacamund, abbreviated as Ooty, a hill station in Tamil Nadu. As they arrived in Ooty they got a sad news that my sister Lalitha’s husband, Krishnamurti, had a heart attack and was in the hospital in Trivandrum, a town not too far from Ooty. The vacation was cut short. Vivek traveled with the whole family to Trivandrum and the next day Krishnamurti passed away. Vivek saw my sister Lalitha for the first time during this grieving period. He assisted the family as much as he could and got an idea of the rituals in a Brahmin’s funeral. Vivek got a good taste of the lifestyle of the Tamilian subculture I was born into.

Medical Emergencies
I had two medical emergencies during this period. One night when I went to the bathroom I suddenly collapsed. Hearing the thud of the fall, Nana found me lying on the bathroom floor with blood all over. I was unconscious while Nana and Vivek carried me to the bed and called 911. The medics rushed me to the hospital in Tacoma where I was told that I had a stomach ulcer which had ruptured. The attending gasteroenterologist fixed the problem after performing an endoscopy and surgical repair of the perforation. I also needed blood transfusion as I had lost a quarter of my body total blood. I was prescribed Prilosec, which at that time was $3 a tablet. I stayed three days in the hospital and was sent home.

Lying on the couch, I said the Bahá’í Long Healing Prayer. That same afternoon I turned on the TV to distract myself. Lo and behold, the program I watched was an interview with an Australian gastroenterologist who claimed that stomach ulcers in most cases are caused by a bacteria, Hilcobacter pylori, and that a simple antibiotic treatment would get rid of the bacteria. What synchronicity! This program came just at the moment I needed it. I immediately called my gastroenterologist to relate to him what I had just heard in the TV interview. He was skeptical, but I persuaded him to examine my stomach lining for this bacterial infection. He wanted me to wait for two weeks since I had undergone an endoscopic examination only a few days before. Also, he was doubtful that the insurance company would cover the cost of this bacterial examination as this was not sanctioned in the American medical practice. He did the examination anyway and found that I had indeed had the bacterial infection. After an antibiotic treatment for two weeks, I was back to normal and have had no problems since then. I thanked my “Guardian Angel.”
The second medical crisis came few years later. One evening all of a sudden I began loosing my capacity to swallow and developed a weakness of the muscles on the left side of my face. My eyes were dry and speech was impaired. The doctor diagnosed it as Bell’s palsy, which is damage to the facial nerves that control muscles on one side. There was no quick cure for this condition; only time could tell the prognosis. I prayed a lot during that time and I started recovering slowly. A month after the diagnosis my speech had return to normal and I was able to resume my work. The doctor thought that this was indeed a quick recovery as it can last up to six months in some cases.

CPLA Contract with Seattle Pacific University
In 1996 the Washington State Department of Education mandated that all teachers working with children in special education in State public schools would be required to get a 48-credit Endorsement Certificate in Special Education, even if they may have a Master’s degree in Education. This was to conform to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They further specified the competencies required for this endorsement certificate around which Universities were to design their curriculum. This was similar to the “add-on endorsements” for math and arts teachers. I wasted no time in drawing up a proposal for the establishment of such an endorsement program containing the detailed course outlines and their learning outcomes mandated by the Superintendant of Public Education, and took the proposal to the Dean Of the School of Education of a private college, Seattle Pacific University (SPU). A good friend and colleague of mine, Dr. Gary Phillips, was also with me. We explained the proposal and how it would be delivered by us as adjunct faculty. The Dean was interested and he introduced us to Dr. Ken Rogers, the Director of Continuing Education, as he may be the right person to administer the program. Since the courses were for an add-on certification the credits could be earned in a community college or Continuing Education Departments.

Gary and I met with Ken during the following days and got the program established. The arrangement was that CPLA would advertise, enroll students, and offer the courses on the Saturday of every month. Each 3-credit-hour course would last a month. SPU would issue the Endorsement Certificate when the course work was completed. We agreed on an affordable tuition fee, with SPU getting 10% of the fees paid by the students. Classes would be held on the SPU campus and CPLA would pay a rent for the classroom used. Ken was a gentlemen and a scholar and was extremely cooperative.

That summer this new Special Education Endorsement Program was well advertised to reach the Special Education Directors of every school district in Washington State, and more particularly the substitute teachers in the schools. The program was to start in Fall of 1996. I had a team of four other experienced lecturers who were paid by CPLA; their honorarium depended on the number of hours they were required to teach. We had seven students in the first batch. Tthe number increased steadily as it was an open enrollment where students could register at the beginning of each month. The program was a great success and became popular in the following three years. The student evaluations of the courses averaged 4.5 on a 1-to-5 Likert Scale. We once had twenty-five students in one batch.

Vivek finished his program at The Evergreen State College, graduating in 1998, and was selected to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia. During these years they were expanding the Narrows Bridge, which was the only connection between the Kitsap Peninsula and Tacoma. This caused my driving time to SPU and other locations outside the Peninsula to double. As the kids were out of the home, we sold the house in Gig Harbor and move to a one-bedroom apartment in Renton, Washington. We gave Todo to the Tupper family on Fox Island; they had three children who loved Todo. We stayed in the apartment for a year and then bought a three-bedroom condo in Auburn, Washington.

City U “Damage Control” Project in Vancouver, B.C.
In the fall of 1997 Nana decided to leave Canterwood because she felt she was experiencing “burnout.” Coincidentally, on the same day I got a call from Dr. Winston Evans, the Vice President of City University, then situated in Renton, Washington. He asked to meet with me immediately, the same day if possible, as they had an emergency with respect to their Education program in Vancouver, B.C, Canada. In our meeting I learned that their Senior Faculty and Program Coordinator at the Vancouver site had resigned from his position without prior notice. The vital part of the “damage control” operation was that the position needed to be filled immediately because the following week the British Columbia Department of Education will be reviewing and evaluating City U’s Education Program.

The B.C. Department of Education had jurisdiction over all educational programs including those in universities in their role as accrediting agents. They had earlier recommended to City U to “Canadianize” the program by recruiting Canadians as their faculty instead of bringing in Americans to revamp the curriculum and deliver the mandated learning objectives. Winston was eager to recruit me as the new Program Coordinator at the Vancouver site because I had Canadian citizenship and the necessary credentials mandated by the B.C. Deptartment of Education. He made an offer that I could not refuse, and a one year contract was signed the following day.

This position required me to spend two weeks every month in Vancouver, and the other two weeks on the Renton campus. Before I signed the contract I made sure that City U will allow me to carry on the Special Education Endorsement Program at SPU. As the SPU program was delivered on Saturdays, there was no objection. The following week I was at the meeting with the Washington State Department of Education’s program evaluation and review meeting which went very well. So for one full year in 1998 I was traveling every two weeks from Seattle to City U’s campus in Vancouver. My board and lodging were taken care of by City U. I accomplished all the goals set by B.C.’s Department of Education for the program to continue. The “damage control” mission was successful.

During this period I occasionally took Nana with me to Vancouver over the weekends. On one occasion, out of curiosity, we went to the Sunshine Coast to visit with a Bahá’í couple, David and Carol Bowie, whom we had known since Montreal days. We both found this to be a charming locality, an ideal summer vacation spot with several Bed and Breakfast homes. We stayed in one of them. With the help of a Bahá’í real estate agent, we bought a piece of land on the Sunshine Coast, with the intention of building our own home one day. At least it was an investment, as they predicted that the land value will go up as the Winter Olympics in Victoria nears. In those days the exchange rate was $1.50 Canadian for every $1.00 US and we were able to buy the land paying cash.

Travel to Southern Africa
In the summer of 1999 Nana and I made a three-week trip to Zimbabwe. Vivek traveled from Zambia to meet us there. Ten days before our departure date, Nana had to have gall bladder surgery, and the surgeon (ironically named Dr. Hammer) advised not to go to Zambia, but to stay in Zimbabwe where there are clinics which could attend to medical emergencies. Furthermore, it was difficult to get our visas to Zambia. The Hartleys were kind enough to come from Texas and stay in our house in Auburn as caretakers.

On the way to Zimbabwe, we spent one enjoyable sight-seeing week in picturesque Amsterdam. From there we went to Cape Town, South Africa where we were hosted by Jeff and Amy Marks, whom we had known in Amherst in the days of the ANISA Program.

We visited two significant sites in South Africa. The first was in Cape Town shere we were privileged to visit the cell in the brutal Robbin Island Prison in which Nelson Mandala spent twenty-five years. Then, on the way to Durban by bus, we stopped at Pietermaritzburg, where there is a plaque at the station that reads: “In the vicinity of this plaque MK Gandhi was evicted from a first-class compartment on the night of 7 June 1893. This incident changed the course of his life. He took up the fight against racial oppression. His active non-violence started from that date.”

From Durban we flew to Harare in Zimbabwe where we met Vivek. Here we were hosted by a Bahá’í couple, Clara and Ted Lathan, who were pioneering from the USA. We went to see Victoria Falls and also took an unforgettable safari ride in an open Jeep to witness the wild animals, and a pleasant boat ride on the Zimbabwe river.

Vivek returned to the USA after finishing his Peace Corps program in 2000.