The mandali stayed elsewhere, at a bungalow called Sunnyside , at No. 25 New Road.1
Kaka Baria and Chanji met Baba in Dehra Dun, but Kaka was sent back to Bombay on the 6th. (He returned a few days later.) Meheru and her sister Naggu had traveled with Baba and the group from Meherabad, and Baba sent them back to Nasik, with Chanji, on the 9th.
A circular was issued at this time stating that Meher Baba's 48th birthday fell on the 14th of February that year (according to the Parsi calendar), which was the last day for observing the fast and the other injunctions of meditation for the group. Baba ordered that no celebration was to be held, either publicly or in private. After 15 February 1942, all were freed from the orders and allowed to eat as usual.
Baba wished to do mast work near the Himalayas, but as it was cold at this time of year (and Chanji was unable to obtain permission to travel there from the Nepalese Consulate in New Delhi), Baba postponed journeying there until the end of March. Instead, he left Dehra Dun on the night of 11 February, for Rajputana to contact masts.2 He was accompanied by Baidul, Kaka and Gustadji. They traveled over 2,000 miles in only nine days, by train, bus, bullock cart and on foot. Baba contacted 27 masts in places such as Hardwar, Roorkee, Landhaura, Saharanpur, Jalalabad, Thana Bhawan, Meerut, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Aligarh, Bareilly and Moradabad.
In Landhaura, Baba contacted an old jalali pilgrim, Qadir Shah , a high pilgrim of the mental planes who was both mast-like and salik-like. Qadir lived in a hut deep in a forest, and the journey to him was especially trying, because Baba and the men had to walk during a heavy rainstorm through muddy fields deep into the wilderness. Qadir Shah was a tall, bearded, saintly old man, who wore a simple kafni. Baba was pleased with the contact, so it was worth all the pains taken.
In Thana Bhawan, Baba contacted a wali called Maulana Ashrafali , who was a thin and aged salik who lead the prayers at the humble mosque in the town. It was claimed that Ashrafali would be seen simultaneously in Thana Bhawan and in Delhi, leading prayers at the great Jama Masjid (mosque).
Among Baba's most significant contacts during the tour were those in Ajmer, where he again contacted the majzoob Chacha and the saints Lakhan Shah and Socrates.
Footnotes
- 1.It is possible the address was No. 10 New Road.
- 2.Rajputana is now known as Rajasthan.