Baba sat down on a wide sofa and motioned for us to sit on either side of him. The other couple sat on Baba's left while Jeanne and I sat next to Baba on his right side. I felt that somehow I must get close to Baba, so I knelt directly in front of him and sat back on my heels. Baba was indescribably beautiful and his love lifted our spirits, filling our hearts with a blissful sweetness that was beyond happiness.
As on the previous occasions with Baba, there seemed to be no need for much conversation. We were communicating with Baba and he with us at a much deeper level — the level of love.
“”Baba did spell out that, "Through love, you will come to see me as I really am."
At that time we could not imagine him in any more wonderful way than as we saw him then.
As we sat there, I thought: "This is such a wonderful experience. Wouldn't it be great if Baba gave us some little thing to keep as a memento of this occasion?" Instantly, Baba clapped his hands and had Chanji bring a rose. Then Baba gave each of us a petal to "keep as a memento of this occasion."
Baba sat with his legs crossed, and then placed his raised foot just a few inches in front of me. I could scarcely believe my eyes as, looking at his lovely foot, I realized that here was the sacred foot of Christ. Scenes from the New Testament flashed across my mind, and I especially recalled the scene of Mary of Bethany anointing the feet of Jesus with precious ointment and then wiping them with her hair. I was taken by an overwhelming impulse to kiss Baba's foot, thinking, "When would I ever again have the chance to kiss the sacred foot of Christ?" So I bent forward and lovingly kissed his foot. A few minutes later, Baba drew me close to him. I bent my head. Baba lifted it and kissed my forehead.
The Shaws were not to see Baba again until 1952, but remained faithful and in communication all of those years.
After three days in New York, on Friday, 14 December 1934, Baba took a train westward across America, headed for California. Besides the mandali of Chanji, Kaka, Adi Sr. and Jalbhai, accompanying him were Elizabeth, Norina, Minta, Nadine, Rano, Nonny and Ruano. During the three-and-a-half-day journey to Los Angeles, the train halted briefly at a few places along the way, such as Chicago (where they changed trains to the Santa Fe California Limited ) and Kansas City. Baba was headed for Hollywood and occupied himself with reviewing the film scripts and discussing the variations in plots and characters.
