This made Baba laugh.
His wife stepped forward to garland Baba, who stopped her, spelling on the board, "No garland, no arti. Let me relax and sit here enjoying this homey feeling. All those ceremonies are not natural. Love is most natural, and I feel so happy that Subramanyam does not remember the names of his children."
At Ramalingam Sastri's, one of the family members asked Baba, "Lord, what can I give you beyond the lotus of my heart?"
"Give me what is not mine," Baba replied. "Everything is mine, except myself. Myself is for those who love me."
On leaving the house, Baba passed an old woman who was sitting on the verandah with some offering in her hand. Baba took it from her and touched her lovingly. She was 99 years old and blind.
At Dr. Kanakadandi's, his sister's daughter was introduced to Baba as having passed her matriculation examination first class.
"I like first-class people," Baba quipped, "because I am first-class first in everything!"1
K. L. Radha's wife was given the rest of Baba's fruit juice to drink at their home, and Baba told her, "When God gives you a son, name him Meherdas [Meher's servant]."
At the K. P. Theosophical High School, at 3:30 that afternoon, Baba dictated:
I will say what I want to say in very few words. I love children and never feel more happy than to be among them. I would prefer to have time to play with them rather than to have all this garlanding, puja, arti and ceremony; especially because I am an expert in playing marbles. Ages ago, when I woke up, I began to play marbles with the universe.
I would feel especially happy if you pupils one day become masters of the art of divine love and torchbearers of the Truth that is Baba.
Baba was occupied with these visits until late that evening. A touching incident occurred when Baba visited the Venkata Rama Elementary School. Baba's visit to Eluru had been publicized through handbills containing Baba's photograph. A small boy had seen one and requested that his parents please take him to meet Meher Baba. But being a strictly orthodox Brahmin family, they could see no point in visiting a "Parsi saint." The boy wept and refused his dinner, but the parents were unrelenting.
Heartbroken, the boy had gone to school that morning convinced he had missed the opportunity of meeting Meher Baba, although he still ached to do so. He was, therefore, momentarily dumbfounded when Baba entered his classroom. He flung himself into Baba's waiting arms and wept with joy. Once again, the Divine Beloved had answered his true lover's prayer.
Footnotes
- 1.First-class first means a top scorer in school exams in India.