HUGS AND KISSES

 
Sometimes [circa 1938], at dinner in the evenings, Mehera and Mani joined the others under the tin shed. Baba ate with them, sitting on his ghadi, which had been moved from Mehera's bedroom. Other times, they put the ghadi under the arbor by the kitchen and listened to music there, under the stars.

During one period, the women performed arti in front of Baba every evening. A kerosene lantern was lit, and all stood silently around him. Gulmai held the arti tray, which Soonamasi had prepared. Only the Gujarati arti, "Bujaave Naar," was sung.

Afterwards, Baba rose and embraced Mehera first, and then each one individually. They wished him goodnight, and he told them to sleep well and be happy. They followed him to his cabin; Soonamasi held a lantern to light their way. Baba stood near the gate inside their compound, (Mehera never stepped out) & again said goodnight. The women then returned to their side. A bell was rung at 9:00 P.M. for all to be in their rooms getting ready for bed.

Baba liked to give little surprises though: one evening, instead of "Goodnight," he spelled on the board, "Too-too" (like Ta-ta). Another time, Baba lifted Mehera four inches off the ground while embracing her.

Mehera remembered one occasion when Baba was especially sweet to her: "Baba hated to have a cold. If anyone in the ashram had a runny nose or a cold, they were told to keep away, from Baba and from everyone else. Baba didn't want the cold to spread.

"Once, it happened that Baba was to embrace me and say goodnight. I said, 'Baba, I have a little bit of a sore throat, is it okay?' Very sweetly, Baba said, 'It's okay. it doesn't matter,' and he embraced me."

One night, while embracing him, Mansari put her arm around Baba's neck and leaned her entire weight on him. Baba did not like to be hugged this tightly, and, as a result, he stopped embracing everyone. "From tomorrow," he announced, "nobody must embrace me. No one, except Mehera. She alone may do so."

Mani was so distraught that after a few days, Baba agreed to hug her also, but no one else. "Mehera and myself would be alone in the east room at the end of the day," Mani said, "when everyone else had gone. Baba would put out his cheek. After Mehera, I kissed him on the left cheek. Then Baba embraced me."

The only opportunity others had to kiss Baba was on his birthday, or on theirs, and once in a great while in certain circumstances.

Perhaps, since this new situation had been prompted by Mansari, Baba was preparing her even then for the isolated role she was destined to play, pushing her away to eventually draw her closer. During this time, Baba came to Mansari and asked, "Have you finished your breakfast?"

"No," she replied, I am in the middle of it."

"Finish it, and come and see me."

When Mansari joined him, he said, "Let's go for a stroll." He took her hand, and they started walking. "It's all mine," he said, gesturing around him. "Do you like it? The whole universe is mine, but this place [Meherabad] is especially mine."

They walked inside the compound, and Baba repeated, "It's all mine."

Then he said, "Suppose one day I leave here for 12 months and take everyone with me. I will give you provisions for 12 months. Will you stay?"

Tears rolled down Mansari's cheeks. "I have not come here for that, Baba."

"What? You are crying? I don't like crying. I cracked a joke with you, but I think you don't like my jokes!"

I love your jokes, Baba, but this is not a joke for me — it's a bomb!"

"I don't like this," Baba scolded, indicating her tears. "Are you a woman? No, you are not a woman [spiritually]. You are a man! Only women cry! You are not a woman."

But as Mansari continued to cry, Baba said, "Okay, I won't crack that joke with you anymore, because you don't like it and you cry. It was just a joke. Now forget it."

Mansari reflected later that Baba had been preparing her to stay on Meherabad Hill without him: "This incident occurred in September or October 1938; eleven years later, when Baba announced the New Life, it came to pass."

Khorshed's mother, Soonamasi, was the shortest woman in the ashram, even shorter than Mansari, and Baba loved to tease her also. But he pinched her if she did something that annoyed him, or that he disapproved of, such as arguing with him. (Sometimes, she even got a bruise from it.)

Baba's sign for Soonamasi was a kangaroo, because something in her walk reminded him of one. After seeing the film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, however, Baba began calling her Sneezy, because she had a very loud sneeze. If Soonamasi were heard sneezing, Baba sent for her and imitated the motion of her sneeze to the delight of all.

"Masi, why are you so small?" Baba once asked her.

I don't know, Baba," she laughed. "You made me this way! Next time make me taller."