In the spring of 1964 it became clear that my first set of experiments had not produced the desired results. I came to realize that I needed to find a job in Canada at the end of my fellowship at the Ontario Cancer Institute. I became a member of the Canadian Chemical Society and attended their annual conference held in Toronto that year with the main purpose of finding some job opportunities. This was where I met Dr. Naren Saha, a chemist from Calcutta, who was working in the National Research Institute of Canada in Ottawa. He introduced me to his to his French Canadian wife who was also with him. In this Conference I was able to have an idea of the Canadian job market for chemists as there were several “job booths” in the lobby of the hotel. The monthly journal which the Chemical Society of Canada publishes came to me regularly. This magazine had available jobs advertised in its last section which I perused regularly with great attention. In the November 1964 issue of this journal, I put an ad under “job seekers,” which read as follows: “An organic chemist with four years of post-doctoral research experience in North American universities and a recent immigrant seeks a research position.”

By early December I had received only one response to my ad. It was from the Merck labs in Montreal. They wanted me to come for an interview, and they would pay for my air travel with room and board. I informed Arthur about this job seeking interview and he gave his full support in my attempt for relocation. It was snowing heavily as I arrived in Montreal the evening before the day of the interview and I rented a car after checking into a motel nearby. There were four others who were all applying for that position. The interview went very well but, as they told me that same afternoon, I was not high up in the selected list. Since the weather had cleared to bright sunshine, I took a bold step in going to the Ayerst lab in Ville St. Laurent, which was only a few miles from the Merck labs. Without any advance call, I went straight to the personnel manager’s office and requested a brief meeting, saying that I am from Toronto. The manager and I had a pleasant chat and I inquired if there was any position open for a chemist. When he saw my resume he inquired whether or not I am the same person who had advertised for a position in the Journal of the Canadian Chemical Society. It was strange, he said, that they were going to contact me the following week or so for a position opening in January 1965, and now here I was in their personnel office. I waited outside his office for few minutes while he made some calls, then he said that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the chemistry lab the following morning. I was thrilled!

I went back to my motel and out of nowhere came an impulse that I should call the Baha’i number in Montreal just to see what they are doing. The person who answered gave me the address of the Baha’i Center and suggested that I go to a “deepening class” that evening. I told him that I was not a Baha’i and did not know if others can attend such classes, but he said all are welcome. I booked the motel room for an extra night and went to the deepening class.

I reached the center after some difficulty in locating the place as it was difficult to read the road signs in French. The deepening was given by one Ms. Betty Frost on the “Hidden Words,” one of my favorites of the books given to me by Ms. Helen Brooks in Buffalo. It was really a very warm and soul-filling presentation. During the break I introduced myself and told Betty of my interview the following day. When the meeting ended, she and her friend Barbara said that they were going to say a prayer for my success in the interview the following day. I could not believe the prayer selected was The “Tablet of Ahmad,” recited in a clear and melodious tone by Betty. They also told me that the room in which we were sitting was the same room in which Abdu’l Baha the son of Baha’u’llah stayed during his visit to Montreal. I returned to my motel, happily looking forward to the next day.

I met with the head of the chemistry lab, Dr. Romano Deghenghi, an Italian immigrant with a positive and pleasant attitude. He was very open and straight forward. He listened intently to my professional history and research experience, and perused my resume, publications, and doctoral dissertation. He said that, as a part of the interview, he will arrange for a presentation on my doctoral dissertation to his research staff that afternoon. I agreed, and after lunch spent half hour in their library preparing overhead slides for my presentation. Powerpoint was not available in those days. Simple drawings with a dark pen on 5×8 cards were put into an overhead projector.

In the small conference room in the library, one Dr. John Bagli introduced me to about fifteen members of the research staff. The one-hour presentation went very well and Dr. Bagli asked me to outline in greater details the reaction mechanisms involved in the synthesis of the isolated natural compounds. I used the chalk board in answering his question and he seemed to be satisfied. Fifteen minutes after the presentation I met Dr. Deghenghi who welcomed me with a cheerful face, congratulating me for a fine presentation though he was not present. He said, “Things work fast here. Dr. Bagli telephoned me to approve your candidature just as you finished your talk.” Right then he offered me the research chemist position starting in April, 1965 which will carry a salary of $10,000 plus annual bonuses. Ayerst would also pay my relocation expenses from Toronto. He then accompanied me to his boss, Dr. Roger Gaudery, the Director of Research, who will have to approve my appointment. Dr. Gaudrey, a French Canadian, was a highly polished, immaculately dressed, and imposing figure. After asking few short questions he welcomed me as his new staff member. Dr. Deghenghi said that I will be getting an official appointment letter shortly. I was thrilled beyond imagination, and as I drove back to my motel I said to myself, “Here I am coming to Montreal for an unsuccessful job interview paid by Merck, but picking up a position at Ayerst.” I thanked my guardian angel, and I attributed this bounty undoubtedly to the prayers said by Mrs. Betty Frost at the Baha’i Shrine.

My confirmation letter arrived in due time and I called Dr. Deghenghi to acknowledge receipt. At the same time I mentioned to him that I could join Ayerst after completing the last crucial experiments I was doing in Toronto, as it involved relatively expensive mice. He had no objection and gave me the needed time. I told Arthur of the developments and promised him that I will finish all the experiments before I leave for Montreal. I finished the experiments by February 10th and gave an extensive final report to Arthur explaining my reasons as to why the project was not successful. Arthur was pleased with the report but was sorry that the project did not produce the desired results.

I was slated to join Ayerst in April, so this gave me about eight weeks’ time to make a trip to India. I knew that when I started my job with Ayerst my annual ten-day vacation period will come only after I have put in two years of service, and that they do not encourage accumulation of the annual vacation. I booked the same Pan Am Round-the-World package but this time the cities were Stockholm, Geneva, Athens, New Delhi, and Tokyo. Shortly after confirming my itinerary, I arranged for professional movers to pack my belongings, store them, and deliver them in April when I have an apartment in Montreal. The movers did an excellent and careful job and I was very much pleased. The apartment manager allowed me to park my car in the garage for a reasonable charge, though I will no longer be a tenant. This arrangement worked out perfectly.

In early March I left for my second round-the-world trip. The guided tour of Stockholm was inspiring as I noticed the marvelous architecture of the Cathedral and the Royal Palace. I visited the famous Karolinska Institute for biomedical research. I had a letter of introduction from Arthur to Dr. Bergstorm, Director of the Division of Tumor Biology, under whom Arthur had once worked. He was a renowned scientist and sympathized with the challenges I faced in isolating gross virus antigen. With the help of one of Bergstorm’s students I had a fine tour of the Institute which included the main offices of the Nobel Prizce Committee. Then I spent two days in the picturesque city of Geneva, visiting UN headquarters and driving through the square where the renowned Swiss banks are located. The most thrilling stop on this second European visit was Athens. The tour of the Acropolis, the Parthanon, and the National Museum was unforgettable. I arrived in New Delhi on March 10th. My parents with my sister, Lalitha, had moved to a deluxe apartment complex in the center of the city and had purchased a Fiat. My sister had finished her MA in Political Science and had a drivers license. We all went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal in moon light for the second time. The issue of my marriage was discussed only briefly and my conditions were the same as before during my first visit to India. I met with my old friends in Delhi and also visited my alma mater.

Baha’is in Toronto

During their visit to me at the nursing home, the Woosters had given me the names and addresses of Baha’is in Toronto — Mrs. Laura Davis and Mr. Don and Mrs. Paisley Ford. These Baha’is held fireside meetings regularly in their homes, in which I participated at least once a month. During these early months in Toronto, I also came to know quite well John and Joyce Edmonds, a Baha’i family from Niagara Falls, Ontario, where I met once again my favorite Baha’i speaker, Morley Smith from Schenectady, New York. My personal experience with the potency and efficacy of the Baha’i prayers, especially that of the Tablet of Ahmad, spurred me to examine more seriously the claims of Baha’u’llah as the promised messenger of God for this age. I read with great curiosity a book entitled “A Thief in the Night” by one William Sears, in which he presented convincing proof from his perspective of the return of Christ as Baha’u’llah. There was a sincere subconscious struggle between my head and my heart in recognizing the true station of Baha’u’llah. I meditated a lot pondering over this quintessential issue in my struggle.

Baha’is of New Delhi

One fine evening during my second visit to New Delhi in March 1965, I went to the Baha’i House in Canning Road and walked straight into the only lit section of the building. There was a big room in which I found nine people, both men and women, drinking tea. I was welcomed, and after introductions I learned that they had just concluded their National Spiritual Assembly meeting. At first they thought I was a traveling Baha’i from the USA, but soon realized I was there to learn more about the Faith from Indian Baha’is. They were all very polite and took turns answering my questions. To show me the diversity in the Baha’i community, Mr. Shaw, the chairman, directed my attention to the fact that the membership of this Assembly was made up of a Jain, three Zoroastrians, three Moslems, and two Hindus; more particularly one Hindu from the Brahmin caste. They either came from Baha’i families or became Baha’is. I had to admit and agree with him that I had not seen until then any such unified and cooperative group in India.

Then I focused my questions to the Brahmin member of the Assembly, Dr. Bhargava, who was very knowledgeable and responded to my questions very directly in an assertive manner. At the end he invited me to his hotel for an evening dinner. I accepted, and became more inquisitive and curious about the Faith. I inquired, if Baha’u’llah is the return of Christ, as Baha’is believe, why has the Pope in Rome not known about this? Dr. Bhargava laughed at this question saying, “You should not be conditioned by anyone’s belief, not even the Pope’s, but only by your own. An independent investigation of truth is one of the cardinal teachings of the Faith.” I also asked him as to why Gandhi, a spiritual giant, had not acknowledged the coming of Baha’u’llah, whose purpose was to unite the religions and mankind. He said that Gandhi was knowledgeable about the Faith, being informed by an American traveling teacher, Martha Root, when he was in the prison in Ahmedabad. Gandhi, it seems, told her, “If Baha’u’llah has come to unite the world, his own call was to free India from colonial domination and strive to unite the Hindus and Moslems.” I enjoyed Dr. Bhargava’s company very much that evening.

Baha’is in Montreal

One evening, a few weeks after I moved to Montreal to join the Ayerst labs, I went to the Baha’i Center for a meeting. There I met a young Baha’i, Mr. Ron Stee, who had just returned from his studies in England. He said he would be going to London in few weeks to to marry a Persian Baha’i. He invited me to go with him to a presentation by Mr. Emeric Sala, who had just returned after few years of pioneering for the Baha’i Faith in South Africa. I found Mr. Sala extremely articulate as he gave a synopsis of his recent book “The Earth is One Country.” He also presented me a copy of this book, knowing that I was still investigating the Faith. Mr. Sala was an Hungarian immigrant to Canada and was of the Jewish Faith before he became a Baha’i. I almost devoured this book during the following week, as he had in a very convincing way elaborated the role of the Prophet Muhammad in the evolution of science, art, and culture in the Middle Ages. Even though I had read the writings of Vivekananda on Muhammad, for the first time I consciously recognized the station on Muhammad as one in the line of prophets, a mindset change for a Hindu Brahmin. It was at this time I recalled into my mind what Vivekananda wrote to a Moslem gentleman: “Vedanta which looks upon and behaves towards all mankind as one’s soul is yet to be developed among the Hindus universally… I see in my mind’s eye the future of India arising out of this chaos and strife, glorious and invincible, with Vedantic brain and Islamic body”. This was confirming my reality as I found that the Baha’i community life involving daily obligatory prayers, the pilgrmage, a month of fasting, contributing to the fund, and burial instead of cremation gave the Faith an Islamic body but with a Vedantic brain.

From Doubt to Certainty

Following this I went to a fireside meeting at the home of a Baha’i couple, Jan and Lonnie Van der Fliet, immigrants from Holland. Jan was fluently bilingual and he was the chief of sales at the Prudential Insurance Company. He suggested that I should go in July to the Baha’i Summer School to be held in Beaulac, a small town in the Laurentian Mountains. So during the last weekend in July I packed my camping supplies and drove to the Laurentian mountains. I located the venue after getting lost, turning round and round, which frustrated me to the extent I was going to give up and go back home. Fortunately I did not.

The Summer school was in a old but partially restored village barn on property which had been donated to the Baha’i Faith by Mr. Emeric Sala. There was a big two-storey house in the barn with a large kitchen and several rooms. The classes were held in the barn and the camp site was not too far from the main building. The registrar, Bill Waugh, greeted me warmly and introduced me to the Baha’is attending the school. His wife Priscilla who was the chief cook very politely inquired about my eating preferences knowing my cultural background. There were over thirty registrants including three very bright singing groups of Baha’i youths from New York. I set up my tent and found that there were four families with children who were also camping. It was one of the most warm, friendly, and welcoming environments I had ever experienced.

That weekend was specially devoted to a theme of “Promoting the Advancement of Civilization.” The main speaker was Ms. Winfred Harvey, a very charming, articulate woman from Ottawa who gave three excellent presentations on the Baha’i understanding of contemporary world problems. During the discussion period on that Sunday morning I raised a question which had been on my mind since my days in Toronto: “If one believes in Baha’u’llah as the messenger of God for this day, why should one convert to become a Baha’i? Can’t one serve the new World Order and still hold onto the Faith he was born into? Furthermore, I think that the organization and administration of the Baha’is is, like in all other religions, made up by well meaning people. Consequently it is man-made and will not succeed.”

Winfred responded by saying, “When one recognizes Baha’u’llah, he does not reject his old Faith. He sees the Baha’i Faith as the fulfillment of the prophesies in his own religion. In that sense it is not a conversion. Regarding the Baha’i Administration, it is not man made but is divinely ordained. Baha’u’llah established the “Covenant” in His “Book of Laws” written in his own hand.” She discussed these questions further after the sessions. After about half an hour or so Winfred took me aside and gave a book entitled “God Passes By” by Shoghi Effendi, the same author who wrote the pamphlet I picked up in my first Baha’i meeting in Madison. She said would find all the answers to my questions in it.

This was the first time ever I saw this book. After lunch I spent the whole afternoon lying in my tent perusing and thumbing through the pages of that book, more specifically the chapter on “Rise of the Administrative Order”. The pages I read had the precise message I was looking for. This was a turning point in my life and I got the confirmation I needed unequivocally. That evening just before dinner I openly declared my belief in Baha’u’llah and signed the declaration form requesting to be formally enrolled into the Faith. The Baha’is assembled there were thrilled and delighted. A short prayer session was held for confirmation and blessings before I left the campus.