Thus, this ordinary pair of sandals was a precious inner link which connected the Gadekar family and many others to Meher Baba.
Despite it being the height of summer, Baba complained of fever and pneumonia on 8 May 1925. His brother Jamshed came to see him from Poona, but when Jamshed began arguing with him, Baba picked up a cane and struck him with it. Rustom and Gustadji also got into an argument, which prompted Baba to send all away from Meherabad. Things were back to normal by the following day, and a film titled Bhasmasur Mohini was shown.1
On Sunday, 10 May 1925, Upasni Maharaj's 55th birthday was observed at Meherabad as an occasion for great rejoicing. Preparations for the program had begun several days before. A pavilion was erected and beautifully decorated. Handbills had been widely distributed and announcements printed in various newspapers, inviting people of all castes and creeds to participate in the celebration. Flags were flying over the school, hospital and Baba's Jhopdi; garlands and festoons hung on every doorway. In a temporary kitchen, a massive quantity of food was cooked in huge vessels.
Baba's seat was located in the Hazrat Babajan School, where he gave interviews to anyone who wished to meet him. The Master gave personal advice and spiritual instruction at each interview. For example, he instructed Mr. Ramdas, a Hindu from Bombay, to visit the saint Tipu Baba daily. Ramdas asked Baba the difference between a mast, a majzoob and a Perfect Master, and Baba gave an interesting explanation on the subject.
That day, all began assembling in Meherabad at about eight o'clock in the morning. The mandali had been up for most of the night cooking and seeing to the arrangements. Baba began serving the feast as soon as people arrived. Hundreds of adults and children from different villages came to Meherabad dancing and singing joyously. Several thousand shared in the huge feast and participated in the celebration that lasted until five o'clock in the afternoon.
Under a large mandap (canopy), the kirtan singer Haridas Bua sang about the lives of Krishna and Upasni Maharaj, dramatizing their life stories. Angal Pleader read from the Puranas before a large crowd.2 In front of Baba's Jhopdi, bhajans were fervently performed by devotees. Programs of bhajans and kirtans were held at different places throughout the day, as people sat listening, blissfully absorbing the holy atmosphere of the Master's splendor that radiated throughout Meherabad.
Footnotes
- 1.The 1913 silent film by Dadasaheb Phalke depicted a Hindu myth about the demon-king Bhasmasur and the God Vishnu in the form of a woman named Mohini.
- 2.The Puranas are selections from the classical eighteen-volume Sanskrit epic Mahabharata describing the dynastic struggle and civil war in the kingdom of Kurukshetra during the time of Lord Krishna.