Kaikobad's family was brought to Meherazad at 9:00 A.M. on the 30th by Padri. They were permitted to see Baba and the women for an hour and then driven back to Meherabad Hill.
Baba's longtime and close disciple, Ramjoo Abdulla, expired of heart failure in Satara on the afternoon of Wednesday, 11 January 1967, at the age of 67. His friend Dr. Jog sent this telegram to Baba: "Ramjoo has permanently left us and come to you this afternoon."
Adi forwarded the telegram to Meherazad the following morning, and Baba cabled in reply: "My very dear Ramjoo has come to me to rest eternally in me. Inform his family to have courage and give them all my love."
Adi and Don were immediately sent to Satara to personally convey Baba's love and message to Ramjoo's family. When they returned, they related how, during his final days, Ramjoo had continually repeated Baba's name, holding a string of prayer beads to help himself do it without a break. In his last moments when he was too feeble to hold the beads, his fingers were still moving by themselves in rhythm with the movement of his lips as he uttered, "Baba, Baba, Baba."
Ramjoo had been in Meher Baba's contact for 46 years, since 1921 in Poona. He joined the mandali in the Manzil-e-Meem ashram and stayed until Baba moved from Toka in 1928. He then became a manager at Sarosh Motor Works in Nasik. Up to the last, he maintained close contact with Baba and would visit frequently. He was one of the trustees of the Avatar Meher Baba Trust, and after his demise, his son, Ali, was appointed in his place.1
One of the first mandali, Ramjoo was very dear to Baba and served him faithfully until the end. In 1925–1926, before Baba stopped writing, he would on occasion write to Ramjoo. A few extracts from these handwritten letters are quoted as testament of Baba's feelings for his dear disciple:
I am always with you internally ... I love you as my own self ...
Have no anxiety about any matter. Be brave; it will all pass away ... I have taken it unto myself to make you see Truth in the future ...
All is well, you have me! Hang maya and all its illusionary playings!
Footnotes
- 1.Although Ramjoo was among those whose remains Baba had permitted to be interred at lower Meherabad, his grave is not there. He was buried in Satara the same night he died.