ChaptersChapter 35Page 4,672

Chapter 35: Guruprasad, 1960

1960Page 4,672 of 5,444
On the morning of Monday, 2 May 1960, Baba visited the homes of some of his Poona lovers such as Dhavle, Ranisaheb of Kurundwad, and others. He also visited the hospital where Kamble's wife was admitted. Shinde had built a new house, and Baba visited it and held the housewarming ceremonies, naming it Meher Prasad . Shinde sent lunch to Guruprasad for all.
A number of devotees from Andhra visited Guruprasad that same day, including Koduri Krishna Rao and Bonala Venkateswarlu. A touching incident occurred as Bapiraj Bandela, of Tadepalligudem, entered wearing a pink coat. He was an innocent and pure man, and his small sons were dressed similarly. On his head was a solar topee given to him by Baba after Baba had worn it in Andhra. Their visit and Bapiraju's unintentionally funny remarks had Baba almost doubled up with laughter.
"In five minutes, he has lessened the weight of my universal burden," Baba said.
Bal Natu also arrived on the 2nd and stayed at Guruprasad during his six weeks of school holidays.
On 3 May, there was an afternoon qawaali program by Jadhav Qawaal. The singer and his group had sung before Baba twice before: at Meherabad for Baba's birthday in 1953 and again the following year at Satara. On this occasion, Baba liked Jadhav's performance so much that he gave him one of his handkerchiefs and remarked:
"If you were to hear just a wave — a single vibration — of that Aadi Naad [Original Sound], you would lose bodily consciousness. I am the Oceanic Sound or Param Naad . Being on your level, when I hear a piece of exquisite music, I appear pleased even with the seventh shadow vibrations of the Param Naad."
Once, a singer from Gunjoti (Aurangabad District) came to Guruprasad and sang Keshav Nigam's Meher Chalisa before Baba. He butchered the song, but Baba kept nodding as if enjoying it.
He gestured to the mandali, "He has made a mess of it!"
But he told Eruch to tell him, "It was quite good; your performance has pleased me much."
And the singer left quite happy.
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