HE HIMSELF WOULD MAKE US LAUGH!

 
I remember several stories that I did not tell in Tales From the New Life. One happened while we were in Belgaum at the beginning of the New Life. It was at that time that the "Song of the New Life" was written by Dr. Ghani with Baba's help. Baba gave the theme, Dr. Ghani put it into verse, and then Baba added some lines and took some out.

Every day it was sung at the mandali's quarters. Adi sang the verses accompanying himself on the harmonium, Baba played the drum, and the mandali joined in the chorus. It is a very special song, and I still remember the beat of Baba's drum as He accompanied His mandali. This drum is now in the Museum at Meherabad.

Then, Baba in the evenings would come to our quarters for a while, and He sometimes asked us, "Have you got any songs to sing, any stories to tell, or anything amusing for Me to hear?" Now since Baba had told us, "No reading of any kind," we could not entertain Baba by reading to Him. (The men mandali helped us to obey this order by giving us old newspapers in foreign languages for wrapping things and starting fires, so that we would not inadvertently read.)

We racked our brains for something to do, just as we had so many years before at the Post Office. Then I had an idea: Mani could teach Dr. Goher a song, who could then sing it to Baba! I knew this would surprise and amuse Baba as Goher was very shy and she had never sung for Baba before.

After much coaxing we persuaded Goher to learn this particular song, and one evening she sang it to Baba. It was a well-known song, and translated into English the song said:

Patience, patience, patience, be patient.
Your patience will be rewarded by God.
Patience is a divine attribute of God,
Be devoted and dedicated to patience.
Through patience your trials and tribulations will be dissolved.

Baba looked so surprised and happy that Goher was singing, and He had a lot of fun teasing Goher by twisting the words of the song around to change the meaning and then asking her, "Is that what you sang?"

We all laughed as Baba changed the meaning very wittily. "No, no, Baba," Goher protested, "I didn't sing that!"

And so Baba would entertain us. In His beautiful way Baba made the atmosphere light and cheerful and instead of us amusing Him, He Himself would make us laugh!