BABA'S SISTER WAS ADORABLE

 
I had the lovely experience of long years of close contact with her, when she would often appear around the corner of Mandali Hall and the shelter for the blue bus with a message or often even a gift.

Once when I arrived in November she had a large manila envelope in her hands containing, I immediately supposed, some manuscript that Baba intended for some literary project. But then why were her eyes dancing like a little girl's about to go on a picnic?

"This is a present from Baba. It is the sadhra he was wearing on your birthday, January 14. He gave it to Mehera to give to you on your next visit."

Dear Mani, you have joined your big brother now, but what a treasure trove of memories you have left — of fun, of serious questions while editing so many of Baba's words, of scenarios for motion pictures of Baba that you and Mehera egged him into enduring as the hero-actor when I arrived camera in hand. (I detest photography, but it brought whole hours of my most treasured experiences of Baba with Mani.)

It was Mani who shouldered the responsibility when Baba left His physical form of presiding over the Avatar Meher Baba Trust, an arduous, demanding job that she fulfilled with great competency, balance and delightful admixtures of humor.