Making a play on words, Baba joked, "This child also has masti [mischievousness], for she is unmindful of the crowd!"
After sitting next to Baba for about half an hour, the little girl got up and went back to her mother. Following her example, other children started coming to Baba for darshan.
Baba remarked, "They come to me because I am also a child."
Again he interpreted the meaning of more songs as they were being sung by Mohan-Saigal:
The lover says: "I am not on this Earth, nor in heaven. I am like particles of dust floating about everywhere in search of the Beloved."
For a Muslim, it is against the precept of his religion to drink wine. If he is seen drinking liquor, he is called a sinner. But the lover says he has drunk the cup but is not a sinner. If he is considered one, then he is such a sinner that even Paradise has been awaiting his arrival for thousands of years!
Only after self-annihilation can one become one with God. Only when the body and the mind are pulverized does one become one with God.
Baba added, "This is not easy! Who would like to become dust?
"The seeker further says: 'My love has reached such heights that even the Beloved cannot cure me of this love!' "
Ghani's brother, Dr. Abdur Rehman sang two ghazals before Baba.1
At about 5:30 P.M., Madhusudan arrived. Baba asked him to sing the new song he had composed for the opening of Mehersthan. He was joined by Sanjeevani Bhalchandra Kher, Pandit, Waman Subnis and others of the Poona bhajan group. After this, everyone sang Baba's arti; then Baba asked them to leave the hall, indicating that no one should come forward to embrace him.
He remarked, "You should embrace me in such a way that you do not need to embrace me again!"
Joseph Harb had recently undergone gall bladder surgery, and Baba went to see him three times at the Jehangir Nursing Home.2 Herman Alvarado arrived and also saw Joseph. Alvarado was a third mate in the merchant marine and whenever his ship discharged cargo in Bombay, he would send a telegram to Adi. If darshan was permitted, Jalbhai would meet him and escort him to Poona or Ahmednagar. Once, although Herman received permission to see Baba, a sudden monsoon storm forced his ship to leave the harbor before he could get off.
Footnotes
- 1.Abdur Rehman died two years later on 11 March 1965.
- 2.Donkin had been sent to help Kari look after him.