As an expression of his gratitude, Raya arranged a tea party in the afternoon at Meherabad and served bhujias. Shankarnath had to leave for Ahmednagar on an errand, and Raya inadvertently served him tea first. Baba was irritated by this, for Raya should have served tea to the Master first and then to the others.
Seeing that Raya regretted his error, Baba ordered him: "When your son is 30 days old, arrange another tea party, and remember to serve me first. Then it will be a good omen for your son to grow into a good and fortunate chap."
The official opening ceremonies for Meher Ashram were held on Sunday, 1 May 1927. A procession started at 3:00 P.M., and Baba, the mandali, the pupils and teachers all joined in. They paraded to the Family Quarters, led by a village band and a group of lezim dancers.1 When they arrived, bhajans were sung, Baba's arti was performed, and he distributed prasad to everyone. A group photograph was taken and then all returned to Meherabad.
Baba had previously ordered Ramjoo to come to Meherabad 20 days a month and spend the remaining ten days at his home in Talegaon. Ramjoo arrived in Meherabad that day and participated in the celebrations.
When the Meher Ashram (boarding) school first began, there were ten students: Baban Shahane, Babu and Murli Kale, Dattu Mehendarge, Madho Shinde, Bansi, Balchandra, Bhiwa, Chhabu, and Hari. The school was located in the Family Quarters, and the ashram staff stayed there also. Sidhu and the God-intoxicated youth, Mastan, were housed in another portion of the Family Quarters. The Hazrat Babajan Girls' School had been shifted from Arangaon to the Post Office, which required the women mandali to move to the Bathroom Building, where they had stayed briefly once before.
Baba saw to all arrangements for the boys of the Meher Ashram — their milk, food, and clothing. Each pupil was given a pair of sandals, a black cap, a khaki shirt, a cotton coat, pants, underwear, and a steel trunk to keep these things in, as well as a towel, handkerchief, blanket, sheet, pillow, and two scarves.
Chhagan was assigned the duty of cooking vegetarian food for the boys. For breakfast, milk tea and chapatis were served; for lunch, rice, dal, vegetables and chapatis; and for dinner, chapatis and two types of vegetables.
As Gustadji's room in the Mess Quarters was vacated to make space for Dhake, the principal of the school, living arrangements were made for Gustadji on the verandah of Baba's Jhopdi.
Footnotes
- 1.The lezim dance is a popular folk dance of Maharashtra, which first became popular among the soldiers of Shivaji. It is performed with a lezim, a small wooden musical instrument with bells, which each man shakes as he dances in rhythm.