Pi explains that the baker who drew him toward Islam is Satish Kumar, a Sufi Muslim mystic who seeks fana, union with God, and who teaches that God rushes toward those who approach Him. Pi notes how ordinary the baker looks and how hard he is to recognize, and he is pleased by the coincidence that this devout baker shares a name with Pi’s Communist biology teacher, also named Satish Kumar.

Pi reflects that the two men, “Mr. and Mr. Kumar,” shaped the two central tracks of his youth: science and faith. Together, they helped lead Pi toward studying zoology and religious studies later at the University of Toronto.

With the baker, Pi prays and practices dhikr, reciting the ninety-nine names of God. Pi describes Satish Kumar as a hafiz who knows the Qur’an by heart and chants it simply; although Pi’s Arabic is limited, Pi is moved by the sound and depth of the recitation.

Though Pi had called the baker’s place a hovel, Pi says no formal house of worship ever felt as sacred as that bakery, and Pi sometimes leaves it “heavy with glory.” On one ride home, with the sea beside the road, that spiritual intensity shifts Pi’s perception and Pi experiences a sudden sense of unity in all things, where every element relates harmoniously and “Atman met Allah.”

Pi recalls only one other time God felt so close: years later in Canada on a snowy, sunlit walk, Pi sees a vision-like presence of the Virgin Mary in a sparkling clearing. The sight fills Pi with fear and joy, and Pi closes by affirming that God’s presence is the finest reward.