The nine men were:
Specifically, these nine men were informed of five select points by Baba:
“”You will be rendering me the most important service by doing the following:
1) Find one real Hindu or Mohammedan saint, be he a wali or saint, conscious of his body or unconscious of it, an advanced salik or a mast-majzoob, to stay with me for 40 days from the 15th of December. He should be a really advanced soul, and not a mere madman. He must be more than 30 years of age (the older the better).
2) He should not be told about me as Meher Baba.
3) The people who serve him must be told that he will be well looked after during these 40 days and if absolutely necessary, one of the adherents can accompany him.
4) He should be brought to Meherabad on December 12th (not before or after).
5) The necessary expenses [you will incur] to be asked from by Adi K. Irani, Ahmednagar.
During this period, Keki Nalavala felt deep love for Baba, but his wife, Freiny, had no special feeling for him. She had not yet had Baba's darshan, nor was she particularly eager for it. Despite this, Keki invited Baba to his home in Dehra Dun for lunch. Baba played with their five-year-old daughter, Mahroakh, and picked up their infant son, Naosherwan, just two months old then, taking him on his lap, caressing and kissing him.1 Freiny observed Baba with her son and at once faith was lit in her heart and has burned brightly from then on. Thereafter, the whole family became dedicated to Baba and worked in his cause. Occasionally Baba would call Keki Nalavala, Keki Desai and another man named Burjor Sohrabji Chacha to Niranjanpur. Burjor, like Nalavala, was working for the Singer Sewing Machine Company in Dehra Dun. Although in 1942 he had stayed with the Nalavalas and found out about Baba through them, this was his first opportunity for darshan. On one occasion when Burjor came to Niranjanpur, Baba remarked to him that he reminded him of his deceased brother Jamshed, whom he resembled.
Jean Adriel had finished writing her book, Avatar, and it was sent for publication in November 1946. Jean and Alexander Markey had established a center called the New Life Foundation for Meher Baba's work, at La Crescenta, California.
Babadas — Orissa, Bihar or Bengal
Baidul — Gujarat
Kaka Baria — Bombay
Khak Saheb — Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh)
Pandoba — Barsi, Sholapur, Bijapur or Pandharpur
Pappa Jessawala — Poona
Pophali Pleader — Nagpur
Sadashiv Patil — Satara or Kolhapur
Vibhuti — Miraj or Hubli
