Baba remarked that he "always felt at home" at Meher House, and he seemed relaxed and comfortable. Baba chatted informally, pointing to photos on the walls and saying how they reminded him of his early years (one was of Baba in the kamli coat). He instructed the mandali to send a cable to Mehera to inform her he was well and would be returning to India. Robert Rouse went to dispatch the cable and also to purchase lunch, coming back with fish, cheese and bread. Baba watched as Francis and Bill cooked, and then he served the meal. Baba himself cut the cheese for each plate. Bill recalled the Biblical feel of this occasion.
During the informal gathering, Baba noted Bill's army hat on the table. Bill explained he was a psychologist in the army. Bill was concerned about the effect of his work on the people he dealt with. Knowing his thoughts, Baba instructed Bill to take his name each time before he interviewed anyone.
Bill drove Baba to the airport in the same car in which Baba had ridden during his 1956 visit to Sydney. Baba questioned whether it would make the journey safely, and Bill assured him that it would, with a bit more air in the tires. They arrived at the airport a few hours early.
After staying in Australia for five days (the same as he had on first visit in 1956), Baba, accompanied by Eruch, Adi, Don and Nariman, departed during the evening of 7 June, on British Airways Flight 713.1 The plane flew via Darwin, Singapore and Colombo, and arrived at Bombay's Santa Cruz airport the next evening at 7:15 P.M. It refueled in Darwin, where Baba and the mandali were briefly taken to the terminal. (Thus Baba set foot in four of Australia's eight state capitals.) The plane was four hours late — but Baba was arriving ten days ahead of the original plan.
Age observed, "Baba sowed the seed of his love at Avatar's Abode, and because of that it will always blossom there. This sacred ground was prepared for future generations, when souls from all over Australia will flock there to find refuge in the divinity of the Avatar's grace."
Almost 1,000 lovers from Bombay and elsewhere had come to the airport to receive Baba. All felt happy to see him walking toward them unassisted. It seemed as if the love of his Western lovers had mitigated Baba's pain to some degree. His smile radiated as his Indian lovers garlanded him. Baba briefly remarked to them about his trip, stating the sahavas programs in America and Australia had been 100 percent to his satisfaction, and he described the Westerners' love for him.
Footnotes
- 1.Coincidentally, on board the same flight from Sydney was Pak Subuh, the Indonesian founder of the Subud movement, whom Meredith Starr and his wife followed for a time.