[Tavern-Talk] HEART TALK: William Donkin's Diaries, 24

[Tavern-Talk]

HEART TALK - Donkin's Diaries: Twenty-fourth Installment

16/8/42 

Went with Eruch on Baba's order to Hardwar and Rishikesh on 13th and 
returned on 14th. Very picturesque and interesting places, and I 
enjoyed the trip immensely. Saw where Baba stayed and all.

Baba very lively these days: he still sticks to his statement that I 
shall be working with him and for him in October end. Baba is wanting 
to move to Deccan with the ladies in September, but there is 
difficulty on bungalows: he seems to want to be near Meherabad.

Baba is naturally talking a good deal about Indian troubles; he seems 
to suggest the present troubles will die out and then crop out again. 
He blames no-one for the troubles at all.

Baba is now here with us nearly all day - so we see a great deal of him 
and have a lot of odd chit chat; Baba loves poking Nilu about 
Congress, and we instigate Gustadji into acting other mandali's habits 
much to Baba's amusement.

I am naturally rather hoping for chaos in order to be with Baba again 
soon - and although I am very sceptical about Baba's promises I 
naturally live in hopes.

In Dehra Dun there is very little excitement, shops mostly shut, but 
otherwise not much excitement.

21/8/42 Meherabad

I left Dehra Dun on 17/8/42 for Nasik. Baba in very good mood with 
plenty of chit chat, and before going I had a good gossip with Kitty, 
Margaret and Rano. Baba still said that I should be with him and 
working for him in 2 1/2 months - I sincerely hope so - though I can 
hardly believe it to be true. 

I stayed at Nasik for a day, saw Ramju, Ghani, and Padri there, and now 
stay here at M'bad till tomorrow, when I must return to Bangalore.

22/10/42

Baba called me to Jolarpet between Bangalore and Madras. Baba was on 
his way to Negapatam to see Chatty Baba.

I met him at Jolarpet station at midnight, and was with him until 2:00 
am.

Baba made the deviation off his route specially to meet me.

He told me I had to come to the special mandali meeting in December. 

He said that we must die for God while others die for their country. He 
said it is time for him to come out. He said the war would last about 
another year.

He still says that I shall be out of Bangalore in November, and that 
all will be O.K.

Baba was in excellent mood and we strolled about the station in the 
moonlight together.

Such occasional meetings with Baba are really very satisfying indeed - 
a sort of deep thirst is assuaged.

Baba left at about 2:00 am for Trichinopoly and Negapatam; Kaka and 
Baidul were with him. 

Well - I don't know whether Baba's time is really coming or not.

He says the climax of the war will be in India because he is here.

I left Jolarpet at 3:00 am and got back at 7:00 am on 22/10/42 to 
Bangalore.

29/1/43 Secunderabad

Just a few lines about recent events. Baba called me to the general 
meeting at Meherabad on 27/12/42.

A hundred or more people were there, and I was lucky to see a lot of 
Baba alone when so many others were there.

I very nearly didn't get leave to come away, because I was to be 
transferred to a new job, but I got permission at the last moment.

On the 26th I got a wire ordering me to return to Bangalore, and I knew 
that it meant that I was being transferred from Bangalore.

So after the meeting I left by the afternoon train for B'lore.

Baba said that it was his key which had enabled me to come to the 
meeting, and his key that had brought about the transfer. Before the 
wire came he told me he would be happy if I were transferred. He told 
me (as usual) not to worry!

Well, since coming here to Secunderabad in this Field Ambulance job I 
am loathing it, and writing grumbling letters to Baba every few days.

Baba tells me not to worry, that I shan't be here long and that all 
will turn out O.K.

The thing is that I don't want to leave India because Baba is here and 
I want to come closer and closer to him.

Murli came to Secunderabad as special messenger from Baba with special 
orders to be opened on Feb 1st only. So I don't yet know what these 
entail.

But I somehow feel that Baba's time is getting near now, and that all 
will be O.K. in spite of my doubts and fears. 

14/4/43

My orders which I opened on Feb 1st were that I must do 3 things at the 
cost of life if necessary: I was anyhow happy to open them as I felt 
it would not mean my going far from Baba.

We left Secunderabad at the end of February and went up to Wah, beyond 
Rawalpindi. Baba wrote to me to get details of Abbottabad which I did.

I am now in Poona at the Technical school, and saw Baba the other day 
as He came from Mahableshwar on His way to Ahmednagar.

I am definitely to join Him at Meherabad on evening of May 14th and 
till June 15th will travel round with Him with various members of the 
Mandali in different parts of India it seems. 

Baba tells me not to worry, that I shall be with Him at every important 
moment, and I only hope that this will be so.

Baba looks very fit - quite unchanged since January.

I called at Meherabad on the way to Poona; Pendu is fixing a grave for 
Shirinmai and Baba's father next to Nonny's grave on the hill. 

Eruch tells me an interesting tale re Shirinmai (Baba's mother). She 
died a few weeks ago. A few days before she got ill the Jessawalas 
went to see her at her house and she told them that she was sure she 
was soon going to die, because she had had a strange dream.

The Jessawalas told her not to be silly, knowing how she was always on 
about her health, but she insisted because the dream she had had is, 
in the tradition of the Iranis, a sign of coming death. She had dreamt 
that a red horse had forced its way into her house and room, and this 
is, in old Irani belief a sign of impending death and Shirinmai was 
certain she was going to die.

Well about three days later she became ill, seems to have been a 
stroke, and five days later, after five days of semi-consciousness and 
hemiplegia, during which she was removed to the Sassoon Hospital. 
After 2 or 3 days she was brought back home still unconscious and died 
soon after.

Baba motored down from Mahableshwar, and reached the home 1/2 hour 
after she died. He said that if He had seen her before she died she 
would have slowly recovered but would have been paralysed for life.

Better for her to be dead, I feel, and she must have been between 65 
and 70 and very robust until her stroke. Well - thus passed Baba's 
mother. Behram and his wife are now in Baba's house in Butler Mohalla.

===================================

Jai Beloved Baba!
Archives Team
Avatar Meher Baba P.P.C. Trust

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Heart Talk, Diary Part 244, 1 May 2008
Copyright 2008 Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust