A typical example of the Master's compassion
is the story of a widow living in Arangaon. She had a feud with the
village talati (government accountant), which resulted in
litigation over unpaid taxes on her deceased husband's farmland. Baba intervened and paid the talati Rs.50; in addition, he paid the
widow Rs.15 for the legal expenses she had incurred. Through this
unexpected loving gesture, the woman's heart turned to him as her
Lord, and her tears expressed the deep gratitude which she felt and
remembered for the rest of her life.
Another story is about the son of a poor cobbler. A few years before in 1922, when Baba was staying in the thatched hut on
Fergusson Road in Poona, Gulmai presented him with a pair of sandals
made by Kanhoba Rao Gadekar of Ahmednagar. For some unexplained reason,
Baba was so careful about these seemingly ordinary leather sandals that
the mandali wondered why he would always wear them. He refused to wear
any other sandals during his first journeys throughout India.
There was a spiritual mystery underlying Meher
Baba's fondness for this particular pair of chappals. The cobbler's 21-year-old son, Ramchandra came to Meherabad on 29 April 1925, for
darshan. He was a student at Fergusson College in Poona. Baba received
him warmly and urged him to stay at Meherabad. Baba also promised him
the necessary funds to further his education.
For a long time, Ramchandra had been suffering
from acute stomach pains, which no medicine had alleviated. He had come
to pay his respects to Meher Baba and also to consult with him about his
ailment, which had troubled him for a long time.
When he bowed down, the
Master asked, "What do you want? Why have you really come to see
me?"
At that moment, Ramchandra was overcome by a
divine desire that made him forget about his affliction. He
spontaneously replied, "Baba, I want God-realization!"
Hearing this, Baba smiled and touched his head,
blessing him. Later Baba inquired about his health and advised a certain
treatment.
After some months, the stomach ailment
disappeared and Ramchandra became a teacher in the Hazrat Babajan
School. Later the entire Gadekar family came to live at
Meherabad, in one of the small earthen rooms built behind the Mess
Quarters. His father Kanhoba also served the Master by keeping those
particular sandals repaired.
Not only did the low cobbler caste of people come
into Meher Baba's contact through Ramchandra Gadekar, but also many
others were affected; for wherever Ramchandra would go in future years,
he would disseminate the Master's message of Love and Truth to all
he met.