In Jaipur, Don received his notice to appear for an interview to join the army, and he left temporarily for Hyderabad. He was told to report for duty on 1 March at Poona. His wartime postings were to be in Poona, Secunderabad and Bangalore (where he was in charge of a 160-bed hospital for Italian prisoners of war, because he spoke Italian). Don would come to see Baba whenever he had leave.1
During this period, a young man from Delhi named Keki (Kaikobad) Ardeshir Desai, 29, read in the January 1941 issue of Meher Baba Journal that Baba would be staying in Jaipur. He came there to meet Baba on 1 February. He had first heard of Baba twelve years before in Navsari from his brother Ader Desai, who was a follower. When Keki came to the Jaipur bungalow, however, Baba was working with Chatti Baba.
He sent this message through Norina: "I am pleased that you have come, but since I am in seclusion, I ask you to return to where you have come from by the first available train."
Although disappointed, Keki obeyed. It would be a year before he met the Divine Beloved in form.
Baba wished to wash the feet of the poor in Jaipur. Two residents of the city, Lala Chiranjilal Agrawal and C. G. Nair, were assigned the task of selecting and bringing to Baba's bungalow 50 truly poor and needy destitutes.2 These two men had wished for Baba's darshan, but because he was in seclusion it was not possible. However, since they had participated in the program for the poor, they did have the good fortune of seeing Baba then.
Agrawal and Nair brought the poor persons to Baba on Sunday, 2 February 1941. He washed each person's feet, placed his head on their feet and gave them clothes and sweets. Agrawal was deeply impressed. He later related to Chanji:
What an accumulation of greatness! I was asked to pour water and hand Baba the soap, but I had to be constantly reminded of my duty, because my mind had become absolutely blank. I felt such an extraordinary feeling of joy, which was contagious. I was staring at Baba, drawn by his charm, which one cannot describe.
While I was in that state of ecstasy, a vision I had in the past came back to me in all its details. I dreamt of Lord Krishna coming along a wide road, followed by Arjuna. Meher Baba had that same expression of joy as I saw in Krishna's face. Lord Krishna stopped in front of me. He opened his mouth and showed me the entire universe, as he had shown it to Arjuna. My joy was so great that even in my dream, I clapped my hands loud enough to scare the family in the house, who immediately came and asked what had happened to me.
Footnotes
- 1.When the war ended in 1945, Don rejoined Baba and was with him permanently.
- 2.L. C. Agrawal was a lawyer, and C. G. Nair was the United Press of India representative in Jaipur.