The brothers then assembled in the Corporation Public Works Department Assembly Hall. At 4:00 p.m., after a fine dinner, an audience of eighty-five heard Brother Franz speak on the subject “New World Peace in Our Time​—Why?” Present were Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Mohammedans and professed Christians. After the talk, the speaker mixed freely with the audience and was happy to discuss in detail matters in which they were interested.

It was only a one-day assembly.

Brother Franz next went to Calcutta, where a two-day assembly had been planned. Two hundred posters and 5,000 handbills were used in advertising the assembly. The two-day assembly program allowed for one morning of field-service activity and also for a Bengali session. Brother Franz then spoke to sixty-nine Bengali-speaking brothers through an interpreter. He emphasized the need not to listen to those who speak against Jehovah’s organization and its theocratic ways of preaching. An appeal was made to do pioneer work in the Kingdom proclamation.

On the assembly’s second day, ten candidates presented themselves for baptism​—three Bengalis, three Hindustanis, one Bihari and three Anglo-Indians. That evening the conventioners were very happy when the Artistry House was filled with the biggest crowd yet for Calcutta, and 261 listened attentively to the talk “New World Peace in Our Time​—Why?” For the final session, 135 stayed to enjoy the remarks of Brother Franz, as he showed the necessity of staying in the organization by cleanness, obedience and faithfulness.

While F. W. Franz was at Delhi and Calcutta, Brother N. H. Knorr was visiting Bombay. The finest auditorium in the city, the Sir Cowasji Jehangir Hall, had already been booked by the Railroad Passengers Association for a conference. But the Association’s secretary agreed to change their conference date so that we could use the hall while Brother Knorr was in Bombay. The only charge to us was the cost of postage to notify their members that the third day of their conference had been canceled.

Excellent advertising was carried on for weeks prior to the assembly, and the brothers felt very well rewarded, because 1,080 packed out the auditorium​—the biggest public audience at one of our assemblies in India to that time. The subject was “Peace in Our Time​—Why?”

Brother Knorr said this about his visit to India in 1956: “It was . . . necessary for Brother Skinner and me to travel to different parts of Bombay itself in trying to find a better location where we can construct a Kingdom Hall, a branch office and a small printing establishment to take care of our work. . . . Now it appears that soon we shall have a good location and be ready to construct our own quarters and move from our present place on Love Lane. . . . When this was announced at the closing session of the convention, the brothers became tremendously enthusiastic, happy to realize that something new would be built for India, for this was another evidence of the expanding activity in this great land of many millions of people. . . .

“The brothers in India were delighted that they were able to operate their own cafeteria, India’s first; and they did very well. The brothers at the branch would get up early and go down to the hall to get things started for the feeding of the crowds.”

India’s own Divine Will Assembly was held at Bombay, October 27-30, 1958. The Witnesses there got busy searching for accommodations for the brothers coming from all over India. Jehovah’s blessing was evident in that an unoccupied palatial residence of one of India’s former maharajahs was obtained. In it sixty-five brothers, using their own bedding, slept on the marble floors. A Muslim charitable organization made available two whole floors of a recently built four-story hostel, which had space for some fifty brothers.

The assembly sessions were in seven languages. At the public talk “God’s Kingdom Rules​—Is the World’s End Near?” a total of 1,009 filled the auditorium, much to our delight. Also, during this assembly forty-five new brothers and sisters symbolized their dedication to Jehovah by getting baptized in water.