Before Kaikobad knew about Baba, he and his family had once gone to Sakori for Upasni Maharaj's darshan. Out of the entire crowd, Maharaj pointed to them and said, "You all do not belong to me, but to Merwan. Go now." Kaikobad had now learned who "Merwan" was, and he and his family would place their lives at his feet.
Kaikobad had brought Sorabji's young niece with him from Navsari, Mani Beheram Desai, eighteen, later nicknamed Mansari by Baba. This was her first meeting with the Master also. From the time Mansari first laid eyes on Baba at Meherabad, she surrendered totally to him. Thus in May 1927, two more circle members began to enter the inner life with Meher Baba, and after some years both Kaikobad and Mansari became permanent residents at Meherabad.1
On 15 May, Pilamai and Khorshedbanu Pastakia, along with a few boys from Karachi, arrived at Meherabad to stay in the ashram for some days. Among these children were two of Baba's cousins, Merwan and Homi (the sons of his maternal aunt, Banu Masi). The boys had been living in Karachi and were brought to Meherabad to study in the school. Thereafter, Banu Masi would come to Meherabad from time to time to see her sons.2
In a meeting of all the teachers concerning the Meher Ashram school on 17 May, the following resolutions were passed:
The school should have a common language of instruction for the children of different castes and creeds, and so, after the fourth standard, all subjects will be taught in English. Persian and Sanskrit will be taught as second languages. For the school-leaving exam, all [are] to have General English as their optional [exam] paper. The medium of teaching up to the fourth standard will be Gujarati, Marathi or Urdu.
Up until then, the teaching had been conducted only in Marathi; but from that day, Gujarati was also introduced, and Padri was appointed as the instructor.
Later that same day, Baba went to Rahuri with some of the mandali to attend a wedding. Adi Sr. had hired a Chevrolet "trolley" (flatbed truck) to take them there. Baba was quite restless along the way — first lying down in the back of the truck and then, after a few miles, shifting to the front seat next to Adi. Baba asked that all the windows be shut, despite the intense summer heat.
Footnotes
- 1.Mansari joined the ashram in 1938, and Kaikobad joined in 1944. Mansari's brother Minoo also met Baba for the first time sometime in 1927.
- 2.Banu Masi's husband, Khodadad Masa, had a fondness for gambling. So Banu Masi got a job herself to educate her four sons and two daughters. One son went to the United States, after receiving a scholarship to study there.