The film producer, Gabriel Pascal, was also to have come from America, but could not. Others were told to proceed to Andhra and meet Baba at Vijayawada. These included Gajanan Pophali and Abdul Majid Khan from Saoner, Nana Kher, Pankhraj and Deshmukh from Nagpur, and Keshav Nigam, Bhavani Prasad, Sripat Sahai and Gaya Khare from Hamirpur.
After staying in Mahabaleshwar for a week, on Friday, 19 February 1954, Baba departed for the Poona railway station in Adi's car with Eruch, Gustadji and Krishna. (Most of the mandali had gone to Poona the day before.) Early that morning, Baba's devotees from Poona had gathered at the railway station to give him a hearty send-off. They included people of all castes and creeds, because in the presence of the Avatar no such distinctions exist. From the beginning, the Master's followers had abandoned the religious curtain of separation to follow his wishes.
Baba walked to an opposite platform, using the overbridge, and the crowd followed him there. He sat down on the platform and was surrounded. He met each and every lover. It was at this time that Korasery Kunjan Ramakrishnan (the future secretary of the Poona Center) saw Baba from a distance for the first time. He was so impressed by the "magnetic personality" of Meher Baba that he thought to himself, "I have never seen another man like him!" From that day, he was drawn to Baba and began to take interest in working for Baba's cause.
Baba and his group entrained for Andhra at 10:00 A.M. Pendu, Bhau, Aloba and Sidhu piled the baggage on the train and, as it started moving, cries of Baba's Jai! resounded. Baba and Eruch occupied seats in a second class coach, as did Adi Sr. and Francis Brabazon, while the other men traveled third class.
After one station, Baba got down and entered the mandali's compartment. There, he explained to Francis:1
"I will tell you why I have called you from Australia. I will also tell you what you have to do later on. In the meantime, observe everything in detail because you will then have to tell me what you have seen and grasped.
"Remember, I am the most divine and, at the same time, the most human, so much so that no one — not even the rishis — can fathom my depth, because I am infinitely slippery. I do not like the ways and ceremonials in which love for me is expressed, such as garlanding me, [performing arti], and so forth. So in Andhra I will give some other expressions of love to express. Love should be expressed in a way as to give pleasure to the Beloved."
Footnotes
- 1.Later, Francis wrote a poetic account of the Andhra tour, titled Journey with God.