Chapter 36: Interested In Remaining Disinterested
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Seeing the twins go through the familiar scene of Baba giving darshan and prasad, while Baba was right before them, brought forth an uproar of delighted clapping and laughter from the audience. Baba laughed so heartily he had to wipe the tears from his eyes — especially when Sohrab's false mustache fell off! At the end, when "Baba" gestured, "I am the Ancient One!" the entire audience shouted several times, "Avatar Meher Baba ki jai!" shaking Guruprasad to its gilded ceiling.
The neurosurgeon Dr. Ram Ginde came to Guruprasad several times to meet Baba and, despite the restrictions, Baba did not deter him. Dr. Ginde was greatly drawn to Baba and, although his practice in Bombay left him hardly any free time, whenever he could, he would rush out of town to see Baba. Baba expressed much love for him. In fact, it appeared that Baba had passed through suffering the herpes infection just to bring Dr. Ginde into the intimacy of his contact.
On some days, Baba met his lovers in the living room adjacent to the hall. One day, as Savak Kotwal entered the room, Baba noticed that he had one of his teeth removed.
"Savak, now you look old!" he teased.
Later, after every visitor had a chance to take his darshan, Baba asked, "What is to be done next? No discourse and no personal talk."
On that particular day, no bhajan singer had come, so to pass the time, Baba remarked, "Today is the time for those who want to sing but never get a chance."
All those present looked at each other, but soon one with a high-pitched voice plucked up the courage and broke the ice.
When Pukar finished singing a song of Surdas: "O Lord, pray pay no heed to my weaknesses!" Baba quipped, "Pukar, you have a huge body, but a very weak voice!"
Deshmukh recited a Sanskrit hymn by Sankaracharya. He also used to enjoy singing this brief marching song in Hindi: "Beat the drums, beat the drums! Sing Meher, sing Meher!"
Once, after hearing Deshmukh sing that song, Baba was prompted to explain: "Only when the heart is clean and the mind completely empty can one be as hollow as the flute or drum to give forth divine music."
Bal Natu sang an abhang (hymn) of Sadguru Tukaram. Next, K. M. Madon, an elderly Parsi (nicknamed Balmwala ), stepped forward to entertain Baba. He tried to read some lines of a poem about Baba, but he was so absorbed in gazing at Baba, he stumbled through it and could not finish it properly.
"Perhaps you have forgotten your glasses?" Baba jibed.