A number of you who have been looking forward keenly to seeing me in Poona this year may be upset at not being allowed to see me; but I have previously told you that you should hold fast to my daaman under all circumstances — and not seeing me is one of the circumstances.
This year will be the climax of my suffering; but 1965 will be a glorious year for me and for my lovers.
The previous year, Baba had prohibited any celebration of his birthday; but in 1964, there being no such ban, lovers everywhere were enthusiastic to observe it on a grand scale, and in different Centers varied preparations were set in motion. For Age, the celebration of the Avatar's birthday each year further diffused rays of Awareness throughout the world. "The forces of darkness were slowly retreating before the Smile of Light, allowing the heart of humanity to gradually open."
At Meherazad, as in previous years, all the mandali were awake early on Tuesday, 25 February 1964 and, at 5:00 A.M., all shouted "Avatar Meher Baba ki jai!", and offered the Master's and Repentance prayers. Although there was a ban on correspondence, Baba had allowed his lovers to send him birthday greeting cards and telegrams, and each was read to him. Meherjee, Bade and Elcha Mistry were permitted to visit Baba for an hour that day.
As his birthday message, this cable was sent to his Western lovers:
"Although I take birth for all mankind, fortunate are the ones who love me while I am on Earth."
Widespread celebrations were held all over India that year. In Ahmednagar, hundreds of poor persons were fed, and Dhake gave a speech. In Bombay, 70 poor people were fed. In Poona, Jashan Vaswani was the chief guest at the celebrations. In Calcutta, Dr. Subodh Chandra Roy spoke about his recent meeting with Baba. Celebrations were held all over Andhra, in towns, cities and villages. A three-day function was arranged at Kovvur marking the first anniversary of the opening of Mehersthan. A foundation stone was laid for a guest house, and there was a large feeding of the poor program arranged by Koduri Krishna Rao. In Delhi, Baba's birthday was celebrated for seven days, and at 10:00 P.M. on the 25th, part of the celebration was broadcast throughout India over All India Radio. Baba had retired to his room hours before this, as usual, but he was especially pleased when the mandali, who were listening to the broadcast, informed him that Amar Singh Saigal recited the Master's Prayer (in Hindi) during the program.