Bill flew to India, and Don met him in Poona on Thursday, 16 February and drove him to Meherazad. He was accommodated in the room adjacent to Francis's room (in the cottage opposite mandali hall). Baidul was staying in the small room on the other side of the cottage.
The next morning, after inquiring about Bill's health and family, Baba asked, "How did you sleep?"
Bill said he had slept fine.
Baba looked puzzled and commented in a humorous vein, "This reminds me of the poem I learned as a boy, 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' — cannons to the right of me, cannons to the left of me! How can you sleep with Francis on one side and Baidul on the other? Francis talks in his sleep and Baidul snores!"
John Bruford, who was living at Avatar's Abode with his family, had first met Francis Brabazon in the 1930s when both were studying art in college. Bruford was a brilliant student, but had given up art because he felt he had "nothing profound to say." Bruford first met Baba in 1956, and it was not until the early 1960s that he realized he did have something to contribute, and he began sculpting and drawing Baba's face and head.
On this trip to India, Bill had brought with him a plaster of Paris head study John Bruford had done to give Baba an idea of his progress in depicting him. Baba was quite pleased with his efforts and remarked it was perfect, that Bruford had truly captured him.
He commented, "Every Center of mine in the world will want to have a copy."
On 22 February 1967, Baba cabled John Bruford; "I, the Perfect One, am very happy with your perfect work."
Later, Baba sent instructions to Bruford to stop farming the Avatar's Abode property and devote himself full time to his art work.1
Because Bill Le Page was visiting, Baba came to mandali hall each morning, despite his poor health, to discuss plans with him for the development of Avatar's Abode. Bill recounted:
It is difficult, if not impossible, for me to convey in words the picture that I carry of the depth of suffering that Beloved Baba endured and of the concentration that he gave to the whole subject of Avatar's Abode during those fourteen days.
Footnotes
- 1.That first sculpture done by John Bruford in 1967 was simply meant to be a progress report to Baba, and Bill Le Page returned it to Bruford after showing it to Baba in India. The final sculpture was finished in 1970 and mass produced. Copies of it are displayed in Meherazad and Meherabad. In 1996, the Bruford family presented to Mani a bronze copy of the 1967 head, which was never altered. Mani placed it in Baba's bedroom at Meherazad (where it remains on display), and she would affectionately refer to the head as "Aussie Baba."