At the reception, a 54-year-old woman who later became
one of the
foremost artists in Switzerland met Baba for the first time. Her name was Helen
Dahm, and years later she stayed in India with other Westerners and did
significant painting for Baba.1 Another contact was Andrée Aron, 24, a
Frenchwoman, who was teaching haute couture sewing at Otto's school. About
her first meeting with Baba, Andrée related:
When Baba arrived, I did not really know who I was
going to meet. I did not know who Baba was. I almost expected to see a fortune teller
or someone who could tell me about the future. Professor Haas-Heye introduced
him to me, and I was quite moved and very open to him. He took me in like a
child, with real love and kindness. That is something I will never forget. Really it was wonderful. It's love. That's all you feel. You no longer
exist; you only think about Baba. That's what I felt. But it took me five
months of reflection to really know that I loved Baba.
The love, kindness, and devotion — a quality of
being I have never experienced with anyone else — a human touch of this
quality. Nowhere, not even with friends. In all the meetings [I had with Baba],
you felt such warmth and such kindness. We didn't think about small
[mundane] things. Nothing mattered anymore. Sleep and food do not exist; nothing
exists. You feel yourself becoming nicer. That's what's wonderful. That's what is fantastic.
One of the other main persons to find out about Baba from
Haas-Heye was Otto Billo, an international
businessman interested in spiritual matters. He was following a Sufi Master,
along with his friend Walter Mertens, 47, when they heard about Meher Baba. After Otto Billo met Baba, he told Walter that he must meet him, too. At first,
Walter's wife Hedi, 39, an artist, was not too interested in Baba, as she
was a follower of Ramakrishna. In a reserved mood, Hedi went with Walter anyway
and immediately was captured by Baba's love. Otto Billo's contact proved
significant, as his daughter Irene was destined to become very close to
Baba.
Baba stayed overnight at the Mertenses' estate at
Feldmeilen and left Zurich on Friday, 16 December at 10:15 A.M. He
arrived in Genoa that night at 9:15 and stayed at the Savoy Majestic
Hotel , where his future activities were discussed with Norina and Elizabeth. Certain Westerners were to proceed to India soon and Baba planned out their
visit in detail.
As they were walking to their hotel, Baba suddenly stopped in the street without moving for half a minute. He told Quentin that he had just received a message from one of his agents saying that his presence was urgently needed in India. The next morning, Baba directed Quentin to go to the Thomas Cook office, where a cable would be waiting. Quentin did as instructed, found the cable just as Baba had said, and brought it back. It read: "Your presence is urgently needed in India to complete certain arrangements."
For his return trip to India, Baba boarded the Esperia bound for Egypt on the 17th with Quentin, Vishnu, Kaka, Jalbhai
and Adi Jr. Elizabeth and Norina left for New York three days later.
Baba arrived in Alexandria at 5:00 P.M. on Tuesday, 20
December 1932. Departing in advance as instructed, Adi Jr., Vishnu and Jalbhai
left by train for Port Said, where they sailed for India on the Naldera . Meanwhile Baba, Kaka and Quentin went on to Cairo and arrived at five o'clock
the next morning. They stayed at the modest HotelPension Morandi , run by a Signor Morandi.
Footnotes
- 1.Helen Dahm was the artist who in 1938 painted the murals on the inside of Meher Baba's Tomb.