Some of the others were sitting quietly in the hall observing silence. Baba suddenly entered the hall and began pacing back and forth, breaking up the boredom of those assembled there. Their hearts were gladdened by the breeze of love that swept into the room, and their eyes teared up with joy.
The Ilfracombe Chronicle reported:
After being photographed on the terrace the whole party went indoors, many devotees of the sect rushing to Baba and holding his hands. He was obviously delighted at the magnanimity of the welcome accorded him, for he smiled and clasped all by the hand.
His long, black tresses (reaching his shoulders) streamed in the northeasterly wind. He has a most impressive, kindly and cultured visage. His looks would command in anyone, except the ignorant, more than a little respect.1
One thing that struck our representative was the obvious sincerity and kindness of all the people staying in the retreat.
Baba directed Kitty to return to London with Zilla and come back to East Challacombe the following evening. Quentin and Mabel arrived the next day also. Ann Powell was another visitor.
The weather in England at this time of year was still quite cold. Ghani was so cold and uncomfortable that he did not change his clothes for eight days and slept fully dressed with his shoes on! He told Baba, "My head feels like a refrigerator!" Meredith had told the mandali to stay in their rooms meditating, but Ghani locked the door from inside and indulged in his favorite pastime — sleeping. On the sly, Ghani was allowed to narrate incidents of Baba's childhood and early days to Kitty and the other sincere lovers, since he and Baba had attended school together as boys and he was one of the Master's earliest followers.
Baba did not insist on the English group being vegetarian, and he had informed the Kimco group that they were exempt from the daily hour of meditation, during which time Meredith had given strict orders for silence in the house and on the premises. One day Baba came to sit with them during this hour and casually pulled a book from the shelf, showing them the title. It was All Quiet on the Western Front , and all burst out laughing.2
Another time, Baba came upstairs to Kimco's room to be with them during the meditation hour. He looked out the open window and saw Quentin dutifully meditating outside.
Footnotes
- 1.The Ilfracombe Chronicle, April 1932.
- 2.All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I, about the horrors of that war and also the deep detachment from German civilian life felt by many men returning from the front.