Baba, however, continued. He had Bhau take off his clothes, wring them out and hang them up on the line in the room to dry and handed him a sheet to wrap around his body.
By this time, Bhau felt so touched by Baba's compassion and tenderness that he no longer felt irritated over what had transpired. Nevertheless, he did wonder why Baba had made such a big fuss about it.
Aloba soon returned with the happy message: "Adi says there is not a drop of rain in Ahmednagar. In fact, there are not even any clouds there. The sky is perfectly clear, and the procession is just beginning. So far, the program is a grand success."
Then, Bhau understood why Baba had acted as he had.
Baba's brother, Adi Jr., attended the procession, and on his return, informed Baba that in the history of Ahmednagar, never had such a procession been witnessed. The parade lasted for six hours, from 5:00 to 11:00 P.M., and consisted of 25 decorated bullock carts, two bands, three drumming parties, two groups of lezim dancers, a party of sword acrobats, a prancing white horse, fireworks, several bhajan groups and a qawaali group. But the main focus of attention was a flower-covered open jeep that carried a lighted life-size painting of Baba. To some observers it appeared as if Baba himself were riding in the jeep!
Adi had wished that followers of every religion would participate in the parade honoring Meher Baba, and with that in mind, he had invited some Christians from Pimpalgaon Village. Also in attendance were a few Buddhists, Sikhs and a Zoroastrian priest. Almost 30,000 persons of all faiths participated in the procession, and Baba was quite pleased to hear about it.
On 27 February 1968, Baba invited ten of the main workers of the Ahmednagar Center to Meherazad. Baba praised their efforts in producing such a grand celebration for his birthday, especially the procession and talk at Gandhi Maidan.1 Girjanandan Dube and T. K. Ramanujam, 28, (who had accompanied Girjanandan) were also allowed to see Baba on this occasion.2 At one point, Dube recited a couplet before Baba about surrendering to God, which Baba appreciated. Despite being warned beforehand not to bow down or embrace Baba, Baba allowed Dube and Ramanujam to kiss his cheeks several times before they departed.
Footnotes
- 1.The workers were: Adi, Sarosh, Viloo, Bhagirath, Rustom Kaka, Manek, Bhasker, Feram, Rangole and Waman.
- 2.T. K. Ramanujam had first met Baba at Guruprasad during the May 1965 darshan.