LET ME READ THE HOUND OF HEAVEN

 
We were all given jobs to do. One of mine was to read to Baba at any hour He wished, from the thriller novels Margaret sent from the U.S. Sometimes he would start walking about, all around the house, and insisted that I walk behind Him still reading, much to the amusement of all. Every morning the newspaper was passed around and in the evenings when we all sat with Baba in the garden, He would ask us to tell Him the current world events and we would also have to tell jokes and funny stories....

Every evening we would gather in the sitting room to be with Baba. We would read poems and Baba insisted on four of us telling funny stories. Luckily someone in America had sent a large book of jokes and so each morning the book was passed around and we each selected three or four and wrote them out ready for the evening — Norina used to say hers with great aplomb. While we were talking we often noticed a far away look on Baba's face, yet He always knew exactly what had been said.

I often read stanzas from Hafiz, Baba's favorite poet, and one evening I asked Mehera to ask Baba to let me read The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson. I started very nervously. It is a very long poem and as it went on and on I could see the looks of boredom on everyone's faces. Some time after this, I heard that when someone wanted to relate a long speech to Baba, which the mandali thought would be too wearing, Baba had said, "If I can stand Delia reading The Hound of Heaven I can stand anything."