It was because of Jal that Memo knew fully well that Merwan was not in Bombay. Memo was upset with her sister for not telling her where Merwan had gone, and she was also upset with Merwan for deceiving her.
Upon his return, she scolded Merwan, "I am telling you for the hundredth time — get a job and keep it! Start thinking of your future! Start thinking about earning a livelihood! Start thinking about getting married! ... Stop wasting your life going here and there to saints and holy men! Do you understand me? Do you understand what I am trying to tell you?"
At this time, the First World War was in full force and Merwan was so annoyed by his mother's constant badgering that he told her, "All right, Memo. I have decided to join the army! I am going to fight in the war!"
Hearing this, Memo became terribly anxious and said, "Oh no you are not! You're not going to war! You will stay home here in Poona!" For some days, this ploy worked and Merwan was left in peace.
Pila Masi and Masaji had two children: one son named Aspandiar (later nicknamed Pendu ) and a daughter, Naja. The entire family became devoted to Merwan, not because he was their relative, but because of his alluring, dynamic personality.1
Merwan's singing voice, as mentioned, was superb. His sweet songs delighted his family and neighbors, who would look forward to hearing him early each morning. Merwan's voice had a special quality — it was full of feeling — he sang with all his heart. Whoever heard him felt the meaning of the words of the prayers; his voice stirred their spirits, urging them to love God.
Baily wrote: "Merwan's voice carried like waves rising out of the ocean, and all things would merge with its sound."
When Pila Masi and her family were living nearby, Aspandiar also recalled: "In my childhood, Baba used to sing Persian poems in praise of God very loudly at the crack of dawn. Every morning at 5:00 A.M., I remember hearing his voice as I was sleeping in my bed. None in the neighborhood would complain about it disturbing their sleep, because they liked the song and his voice. They would say, 'Ah, Merwan is singing.' "
Pila Masi had asked her nephew Merwan to teach her children the Zoroastrian prayers and how to tie the sacred kusti around their waist each morning, which he did.2
Footnotes
- 1.Two other children, Mehera and Gustad, had died.
- 2.A kusti is a thick thread that Zoroastrians wrap and knot in a certain manner around their waist. It is sacred in their religion because it symbolizes tying oneself to God. (Its deeper meaning probably has to do with the winding and unwinding of sanskaras.)