He had been present for the Saoner programs, too. Pankhraj, his wife Tarabai, B. B. Kapse and family, as well as Ramdas Chaurasia and his sons, Shankarlal and Ganeshlal, gathered to receive Baba.
After reaching Nagpur at 9:30 A.M. on Friday, 2 January 1953, the first item on Baba's agenda was, as usual, the poor program. It was arranged in the large hall of a newly built Gita temple, after which Baba met his close Nagpur lovers.
At five o'clock that evening, Baba went to the Parsi burial grounds, where he laid a wreath of roses on Jal Kerawalla's grave. The mandali too paid their respects, each offering one rose.
Baba remarked, "Jal lived for me and died in me."
Baba then visited the tomb of Tajuddin Baba, where he paid his respects. He went to the palace of the Hindu king Raja Raghuji Rao Bhosle, where Tajuddin Baba had breathed his last. Raja Bhosle received Baba ceremoniously, and performed his arti.
Baba commented to him, "I have come here not because you are a king. You have served Tajuddin long and faithfully, and as the fruit of your service you find me here. Tajuddin was so great that with a kick he could have given Realization even to dust."
Tajuddin Baba's body is buried in Taj Bagh (Taj's Garden) some miles away, but as the palace was his constant seat, Raja Bhosle had preserved it as a memorial to the great Qutub. Coming out of the palace, Baba seated himself on the stone upon which Tajuddin used to rest. Baba asked all the mandali to take darshan at the symbolic samadhi, which they did.
Meanwhile, Irene Conybeare, after attending only one day of the darshan program in Hamirpur, had left with Meherjee for Poona due to ill health. She was called to Nagpur to participate in the darshan program and, though she was still not feeling well, she came. Alexander Markey had departed after taking Baba's darshan in Saoner. He had an unforgettable experience and was greatly impressed on seeing the numberless butterflies dancing near the Divine Flame.1
On Saturday, 3 January 1953, a children's program was held in the Gita temple. Sherlekar had arranged it and almost 1500 schoolchildren had Baba's darshan. All were under twelve years old. Baba's message about bowing down was explained. Baba bowed to all and a message for children was read. Like a child himself, Baba mingled freely with the little ones of every group.
Footnotes
- 1.Alexander Markey subsequently became involved with the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India, and died in Switzerland on 5 September 1958.