Chapter 36: Interested In Remaining Disinterested
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Madon then tried to sing one of Madhusudan's compositions. He closed his eyes and as he sang his body began to shake.
All clapped at the end, and Baba remarked, "See what courage he has shown! During my present stay in Guruprasad, not before today have I enjoyed such fun!"
Manu Jessawala also sang one of Tukaram's abhangs.
Baba looked solemn as she sang and then commented, "Tukaram wants one to surrender completely to the Perfect Master. But I rarely find anyone who surrenders to me as he ought to."
On another occasion, a song in Hindi which also stressed the need of surrender to the Master was sung.
Baba remarked, "In this song, the lover expresses his earnest desire to surrender to the Beloved Master. And what do you understand is meant by real surrender?"
He clarified, "Unless you become as dust, you cannot realize God. But first you have to become stone, for you cannot become dust right away. What is needed is to retain human consciousness and become as stone, and then wear yourself down to dust at the feet of the Perfect Master."
To tease one lover from Andhra, Baba asked, "Have you such daring to surrender to me?"
The reply was, "Yes, Baba, if you so wish."
"But what about your wife? Won't she catch hold of your neck?"
"No, not at all, Baba."
With a smile, Baba concluded, "Then, perhaps she may catch hold of my neck, and then that will be my surrender to you!"
The hall resounded with laughter, and Baba, too, appeared pleased. Baba's arti was sung as the day's program came to an end.
During those final two weeks of May 1961, an American journalist named Ann Margaret Conlon, 29, was expected at Guruprasad any day. Baba's nephews, Sohrab and Rustom had been listening to the discussions about Ann, so on Friday, 26 May 1961, they disguised Sohrab as a young lady and hired a taxi to take him to Guruprasad. Pictures had been sent to Mani of Ann Conlon at the New York birthday celebrations, so when Eruch and Meherjee saw a stocky "woman" arrive, they went to greet whom they assumed was Ann Conlon.