True spiritual mastery is achieved through complete self-emptying and devotion.
"Becoming the sandals worn on the Master's feet"
Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai
Walu Bhau Pawar
From Arangaon; washed Baba's clothes and cleaned his room
โWalubai (also spelled Valu)โ
Walu Bhau Pawar was a Maratha woman from Arangaon, the village at the foot of Meherabad. She came from an upper-class village family with landed property, and when Mehera first met her she was wearing elaborate gold ornaments around her neck and wrists. In 1925 Walu was intensely drawn to Meher Baba. Soon after meeting him she surrendered to his spiritual guidance and dedicated all her possessions and property to him. Her husband had died early in their marriage and she did not remarry; she had one daughter.
Walu continued to live in Arangaon, but she was allowed to come daily and be with the women mandali at the Post Office quarters in Meherabad. She baked bhakri, helped Mehera attend to Baba's personal needs, and from 1925 washed Baba's clothes and kept his room clean. On 1 June 1927 Baba went to Arangaon for the wedding of her daughter and remarked, "I was compelled to attend this marriage today because of Walu's love and devotion for me." Lord Meher records that she was the only woman from Arangaon to be included in Baba's close circle of women mandali.
Through the late 1920s and 1930s Walu shared the life of the women's ashram at Meherabad and Nasik. In December 1933, when Baba remarked that shade trees along the path up Meherabad Hill would be welcome, she began planting saplings that very day and carried water from far away to keep them alive; some of those trees still line the path. Baba later ordered that only Walu should clean his cabin on the hill. Though from a well-to-do family, she had profound humility and did every kind of lowly work wholeheartedly.
In 1937 she travelled with Baba and the women to France, staying at Villa Caldana in Cannes. On 19 November 1938 her sari caught fire while she was burning dry grass and her legs were badly burned. When Padri and Dr. Kalavker advised leaving her behind, Baba replied, "No, all of us must start together. Maya must not be allowed to put obstructions in my way!" On the Blue Bus tour that began on 8 December 1938 she had to be carried in and out of the bus, and Rano Gayley dressed her wounds every day.
In the 1940s Walu was among the small group of women who stayed with Baba at Pimpalgaon (later Meherazad), and on 16 September 1948 she was one of the women with whom Baba came to live at Meherazad. During the New Life she was placed at Bindra House in Poona, but the separation from Baba deeply disturbed her, and on 18 March 1950 she returned to her home in Arangaon. In later years she lived at the Family Quarters near Arangaon. Walu was one of the mandali who stayed at Meherabad and served Baba.
Walu died on 1 September 1973 and was cremated at Arangaon in the presence of her relatives.
โI was compelled to attend this marriage today because of Walu's love and devotion for me.
โ On leaving Arangaon after the wedding of Walu's daughter, 1 June 1927
โI come down from the hill twice daily to go to the mandali's quarters and have to walk up twice more. How much better it would be if there were shade trees lining the path.
โ To Walu at Meherabad; Lord Meher records it under December 1933. That same day she began planting the trees that still line the path up the hill
โOnly Walu should clean Baba's cabin on the hill.
โ One of the rules Baba laid down for the women on Meherabad Hill, 29 August 1938
โNo, all of us must start together. Maya must not be allowed to put obstructions in my way!
โ When Padri and Dr. Kalavker advised against taking the badly burned Walu on the Blue Bus tour, November 1938
โNone from the women's group should come to the mast ashram, except [Soona]Masi and Walu, who can come up to the fixed limit, which will be shown to them.
โ Instructions for Baba's week of seclusion from 23 February 1940; his tea was also to be sent with Walu
โFor my work, I have to reside in Pimpalgaon with Mehera, Mani, Meheru, Margaret and Walu. To help in the work, the rest of you continue staying in Meherabad.
โ To the women, after Baba went to see Pimpalgaon (later Meherazad) on 30 November 1943
โKeep Soltoon and Dowla with you as members of your own family. Keep Walu also in this same manner. I am giving you this responsibility and you will be serving me by carrying it out.
โ To Pappa and Gaimai Jessawala at Bindra House, Poona, 28 September 1949, before the New Life
In December 1933 Baba remarked to Walu that he walked down the hill to the mandali's quarters twice a day and up again twice more, and how much better it would be if shade trees lined the path. That very day she began planting saplings on both sides of the narrow dirt road. Water was scarce, so she carried it on her shoulders from a distance. Lord Meher notes that some of those trees still line the path up Meherabad Hill, a boon to every pilgrim.
In mid-July 1935 Walu brought Baba's food tray to his seclusion cabin and found the door shut. Thinking the wind had closed it, she pushed it open. Baba, absorbed in his inner work, looked up and stared at her, and his gaze overwhelmed her. Her eyes became painful and bloodshot, and she could not see for three days. When Gulmai begged Baba to forgive her mistake, her sight was restored, and from then on Walu was extremely careful to follow his orders exactly.
Shortly before the Blue Bus tour of December 1938, Walu's legs were badly burned and the burns turned septic. Padri and Dr. Kalavker told Baba it was not good to take her on the trip, but Baba replied, "No, all of us must start together. Maya must not be allowed to put obstructions in my way!" Walu had to be carried in and out of the bus, and Baba handed her bandages to Rano Gayley, who had always been squeamish at the sight of blood but, obeying Baba, cleaned and dressed Walu's burns every day.
In 1943 the women's bungalow at Bhilar was surrounded on all sides by tall grass, and Walu would cut it and burn it to keep snakes away. One day, while she was doing this, a violent whirlwind blew up and the grass caught fire. Trapped, Walu shouted Baba's name. The women came running and put out the fire, and although she had been in the midst of the blaze, Walu was unharmed. Lord Meher attributes this to Baba's nazar.
After Baba's Manonash seclusion, Walu, living again in Arangaon, was so restless to see him that she walked the entire 15 miles to Pimpalgaon (Meherazad) and hid near the hill opposite Seclusion Hill. When she saw Baba on the approach road she ran to him and fell weeping at his feet, crying, "Baba, I cannot survive without you! Please let me stay here!" Baba spoke lovingly to her, but she would not calm down, and at last he struck her on the head with his hand. "I felt as if an electric shock passed through my body," she said later. "Gone was the desire to stay with Baba at Pimpalgaon." Baba sent her back to Arangaon, told her not to come to Meherazad again, gave her a photograph of himself and promised that he would always be with her. At home she began to see his form in the photo and felt she was no longer alone. (Mehera-Meher, Vol. 2, p. 564)
In Bangalore at the end of 1939, Baba had the women stage plays, and around Christmas and New Year's Eve each group put on a short skit. In one skit Walu was dressed as a Muslim, but Naja had not adjusted her costume properly, and this upset Walu just as she was about to go on stage. When she appeared she was so angry that, instead of speaking in Urdu as she had been coached, she began speaking in Marathi. Lord Meher records that this, too, was a source of delight for Baba.