At 9:00 A.M. on Friday, 2 November 1962, the Westerners arrived at Guruprasad.
“”Baba asked them, "Who got wet yesterday?"
All raised their hands.
“”"Did anyone catch a cold? No? It was a good dress rehearsal!"
All enjoyed the joke.
“”"Elizabeth, you looked very nice in that brown dressing gown of yours."
Elizabeth had left the gown in India and she said, "It came back to me after ten years!"
Baba observed:
“”It was a real East-West Gathering! I could greet only one-quarter of the visitors; today I will complete the three-quarters remaining. So be early today; come at two o'clock. Be ready for the rush and struggle. These crowds are nothing. You have no idea of the mass darshan programs. I had to satisfy thousands, and I did. Those who have come are only the close ones who obey the instructions. That is why they have been given badges. When I give public darshan, the masses do not realize I am in a human form — they fall on me. The mandali have to stop them from breaking coconuts at my feet, throwing colored powder and rice over my head. They do not realize the gulal [red colored powder] can get into my eyes.
Baba asked about their health, and then he mentioned that Marion Florsheim and Zarouhi Bahjejian had their passports and money stolen from their hotel rooms.
“”He asked, "Isn't it surprising Energy has lost something?"
She replied, "If I lost everything, I could stay here!"
Baba explained that word of a big meeting like this gets around, and the thugs and pickpockets are lured to town. But on his mass darshan tours (in Andhra) when there were 60,000 or more, there were no thieves in the crowd. Once a man had his arm around Eruch's neck and tried to take rupees out of his shirt pocket. Eruch caught him, but Baba made Eruch give him the money.
“”"It's your fault, not his," he told Eruch.
Baba then said, "Yesterday, there were 5,000, not the 3,000 expected. Many came at the last minute. So I have more work today. Did you notice the boy with a red loincloth on the dais? He is called Balak Bhagwan, and in Central India people believe him to be an Avatar. I told him not to accept homage and that he had no authority to do so without first attaining God Himself. Bhagwan has come to pay his respects to me; he loves me very much.
