Chapter 36: Interested In Remaining Disinterested
1961Page 4,777 of 5,444
Baba was still in seclusion and it seemed he was starting to lose his interest in mundane things again. The mandali thought perhaps the singing would make him feel better, and so Rustom Kaka was written that he should come to Meherazad with the singer on Sunday, 12 November 1961. But when they arrived at 10:00 A.M. Bhau asked, "Where is the singer?"
Pointing to a girl of sixteen, Rustom Kaka replied, "She is the singer."
"Her?" Bhau asked, incredulously. "She is so young."
Bhau kept quiet, although he was much irritated with Rustom Kaka. Baba always appreciated good singing and had been looking forward to the performance of someone new. How would Baba react to a child's singing? Was Rustom Kaka wasting Baba's time? But when the girl began singing before Baba, everyone present was taken aback by the strength and exceptionally pleasing quality of her voice. Baba, too, liked her singing and gave her his blessing.
The girl's name was Lata Limaye. Her father worked in the military accounts department and had requested a transfer to Ahmednagar after the family's home and all their possessions had been destroyed in the recent Poona flood. After performing before Baba that day Lata made rapid progress in her career. She entered an all-India music competition, and before she left for Delhi to attend the contest, Baba called her twice and had her sing before him to practice the song she would be singing in Delhi. The result was that Lata Limaye won first place, winning the President's medal. When she returned, Baba would often send for her to sing at Meherazad. He also began financing her musical education.
For the past two months, Eruch had been quite ill. In mid-August he suffered from severe viral pneumonia and, after getting acute hemolytic anemia from a drug reaction, he was admitted to the Salvation Army Booth Hospital in Ahmednagar on 8 October 1961 for a blood transfusion, and treated by Dr. Ernest Pedersen, an Australian surgeon.1 Meherjee was at Meherazad at this time and stayed with him in the hospital the first few nights. Gaimai arrived the following day to attend him, along with others from Eruch's family from Akbar Press.
Eruch had to remain in the hospital for a few weeks, and Baba was driven there twice — on 12 and 22 October — to see him with some of the mandali. Eruch was discharged from the hospital on 31 October. He was driven first to Akbar Press and then to Meherazad, before going to Poona for three weeks to convalesce at Bindra House. He returned to Meherazad on 23 November.
Footnotes
- 1.Vishnu also became ill with pneumonia at Meherazad, but was not hospitalized.