"My Reminiscences on Obaid Siddiqi: My first serious contact with Obaid Siddiqi was in 1969-70 when I was finishing my Ph.D program at the Tufts Medical School, Boston. At that time Obaid was a Visiting Scientist in the laboratory of Maurice Fox at MIT. My thesis advisor, Edward (Eddie) Goldberg and Fox were friends and Eddie came to know about Obaid through Fox. Eddie had been advising me to return to India, if not immediately after Ph.D, to start a career on my own. He arranged for my meeting with Obaid at his house in Brookline (suburb of Greater Boston) over dinner. Obaid said I could write to him at Bombay (Mumbai) after finishing my Ph.D and he would take it up for further action. Eddie included Obaid as an external examiner during my Ph.D defence along with Maurice Fox (MIT) and Walter Gilbert (Harvard). This was around April- May, 1970. Obaid was back in India soon after and I was planning to write to him about the job offer he had made unofficially earlier. Meanwhile I was fortunate to get a Damon Runyon Post-doctoral Fellowship to work in the James Watson – Walter Gilbert group at Harvard. It was too tempting and I did not want to miss such a golden opportunity. I wrote to Obaid asking if the offer would be open for two years hence. Obaid not only responded in the affirmative but also kept up his word and I landed as a Fellow in the Molecular Biology Unit of TIFR in June 1972. I had an enjoyable and productive stay there till 1974. The work I did, along with my colleague MP Pitale during that period, resulted in a decent publication in Biochemistry. The stimulating company of seniors like Obaid, Maitra, Udai Singh, Kenkare and Johri, and a bunch of bubbling youngsters (too many to recount) was an unforgettable intellectual experience. I still have nostalgic memories of that golden period. However, with the non-availability of campus housing, the inevitable stay at the hostel and a family at Chennai waiting to join me etc., my stay at TIFR came to an end in 1974 when I moved to Madurai Kamaraj University where I remained till retirement. Looking back, I feel it was Eddie's conviction that I should return to India and Obaid's firm offer of a position at the TIFR that made me return home. All said and done, it has turned out to be a wise decision. I am very happy to know that Obaid is turning 80. I wish him many more years of happy and healthy life. I am happy to share my memories of him on this ocassion."--- R.Jayaraman, Formerly at Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai