Nusserwan was very happy with this chance
meeting and returned home in an ecstatic mood. Although Nusserwan had
seen Meher Baba during 1921 at the housewarming ceremony of Sarosh
Manzil and most likely at Rustom's wedding, he had not known who he
was nor had he talked with him. Seeing him now, Nusserwan immediately
felt drawn to Baba.
Nusserwan was not the only local resident who
came to Meherabad. Others from Ahmednagar began to come for the
Master's darshan regularly, and Meherabad turned into a scene of
great activity.
“”On 28 April, Baba gave this message to a gathering of
local people who had come for his darshan: "Divinity is an
unlimited treasure. It is useless and pointless to contact a Sat
Purush [a God-realized soul] to gain material benefit."
Gulmai traveled to Poona at 10:00 P.M. that
night, and as the train passed Meherabad, Baba and the mandali stood by
the railway tracks and waved to her.
The next day, Ardeshir Irani and his friend Feram
of Karachi came to meet Baba, and presented fruit and sweets to him.
“”Baba discussed with Ardeshir about planting a fruit orchard at
Meherabad, similar to the ones he had seen in Persia, and told him,
"If you were to begin an orchard here, my men would have
employment."
Ardeshir was quite prepared to begin such work and,
from that day, began living at Meherabad as one of the mandali. Baba
designated him "Director of Agriculture" and advised him to
begin immediately to fertilize and improve the soil for the orchard.
Ardeshir had been introduced to the Master at
Manzil-e-Meem through Baidul, and even at that time he was eager to stay
with the Master. Baba had assured him he would call him later, and on
this day Baba fulfilled that promise. However, the mandali were not so
thrilled with this new addition to their ranks. Ardeshir, being a hearty
Irani, was a harsh taskmaster. This newly appointed Director of
Agriculture literally worked the mandali to a breaking point. He worked
them so hard that Ramjoo wondered how many of them would live to see the
orchard blooming — much less survive to taste its fruit.
On 30 April 1924, Gulmai returned to Ahmednagar
and went immediately to see the Master. She presented him with a sadra — a white robe made of thin muslin material —
which became Meher Baba's standard dress from that day on. During
their conversation at the Jhopdi, Khushrow Cursetji Nagarwalla, a
wealthy orthodox Zoroastrian from Ahmednagar, arrived at Meherabad with
another person.
