Dr. Ginde came almost every weekend to see Baba at Guruprasad. During one visit, he described to Baba how he had operated on a child pronounced dead and brought him back to life — and he believed he did this by repeating Baba's name! The boy, Rashesh Vaidya, had fallen from a tall building in Bombay and had suffered a severe skull fracture and appeared lifeless. But inwardly inspired, Ginde attempted to save the boy's life and spent eight hours performing brain surgery on him — every second thinking of Baba and taking his name. Ginde believed that his labors were rewarded when the child regained consciousness, and thus the power and glory of Meher Baba's name was once again proven to a faithful devotee.
Another time, Ginde had been unable to save a five-year-old child. He wrote to Baba about the case, feeling very sad over the death of such an innocent child.
Baba replied, "Do not get affected or upset by such things. Be like the surgical instruments that you handle, which operate by your hand. They are not concerned with what happens to the patient thereafter."
In other words: Be an instrument of God and serve humanity. Do your duty without being affected by results, and accept any outcome as His wish.
The New York World's Fair was reopening at this time, and on 20 April, Baba sent his American lovers this cable:
"My love is with you all who are blessed to work with renewed hope and energy in giving my 'Universal Message' through the fair."
Although the May darshan was only for Easterners, three Western men had been invited from America: Harry Kenmore, Ben Hayman and Joseph Harb.1 A young couple from Australia, Peter and Helen Rowan, who were traveling in India, were also permitted to attend the program. Many more Westerners had wanted to come, but Baba informed them to wait until December.
The three Western men arrived in Bombay on 25 April and were met by Ginde and Gajwani. They arrived in Poona by train late in the evening on the 27th where Meherjee met them. Meherjee brought them to Guruprasad the next morning at 9:45 A.M. for an hour's visit. Ben Hayman was an osteopath. About the severe pain in his neck, Baba indicated that it would continue until July.
"I will allow the doctors to try to heal it because of their love, but their success will be but a very, very tiny little bit of relief for about a day. After July, the pain will disappear."
The three Americans were permitted to return in the afternoon from 4:00 to 5:00 P.M.
All arrangements for the public darshan had been completed by the end of April, and a very large shamiana (decorative canopy) had been erected at the Poona Center, where Baba was to begin the six-day sahavas. But on Friday night, 30 April 1965, a heavy rainfall began, accompanied by terrific thunder and lightning.
Footnotes
- 1.About the three Western men invited, Joseph Harb's wife Kari wrote to Carrie Ben Shammai on 16 May 1965: "Somehow they remind me of the Three Musketeers and also of the Three Monkeys of Buddhist symbolism: Dr. Kenmore is blind, Dr. Hayman's deaf (when without his hearing aid) and Joseph is the other one: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil!"