• I Wanted to Be Like Jephthah’s Daughter
    The Watchtower—2011 | December 1

    • The “Scales” Fell From My Eyes

      As a result of economic hardships following World War II, we moved to Bombay, over 550 miles (900 km) away. There, in 1945, two of Jehovah’s Witnesses visited my father and gave him a Bible booklet. Father drank in its message the way parched soil drinks in the rain, and he began to share its message with other Kannada-speaking people. By the early 1950’s, a small study group had grown into the first Kannada-language congregation in Bombay.

      Father and Mother taught us children to be keen Bible students and good teachers. Each day, they found opportunities to pray and study with us. (Deuteronomy 6:6, 7; 2 Timothy 3:14-16) One day while I was reading the Bible, scales, as it were, fell from my eyes. I learned that Jehovah is likened to a shepherd because he guides, feeds, and protects his worshippers.​—Psalm 23:1-6; 83:18.

      Jehovah Has Held My Hand

      I was baptized shortly after the memorable Bombay convention in 1956. Six months later, I followed the example of my older brother Prabhakar and became a full-time evangelizer. Although I was eager to share Bible truths with others, my mouth went dry as soon as I tried to speak about what I believed. I stuttered, and my voice trembled. ‘I can do this work only with Jehovah’s help!’ I cried to myself.

      Help from Jehovah came in the form of missionaries Homer and Ruth McKay from Canada, who had attended the missionary school of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York, U.S.A., in 1947. They held my hand, so to speak, as I clumsily took my first steps when I began in the ministry. Ruth regularly practiced door-to-door presentations with me. She knew exactly how to calm my nerves. Holding my trembling hands, she would say: “Don’t worry, dear. Let us try the next house.” Her reassuring tone gave me heart.

      One day, I was informed that Elizabeth Chakranarayan, an older, experienced Bible teacher, would be my partner in the ministry. My initial reaction was: ‘How will I manage to live with this sister? She is so much older than I am!’ But she turned out to be exactly the partner I needed.