5033GURUPRASAD GARDEN, 19631963
Baba went to the mandali's room at 6:45 A.M. the next morning, 16 June. He asked them to repeat this invocation: "O God! Help us all to hold on to Baba's daaman until the very end!"
Nari Contractor and Polly Umrigar, the two cricket players from Bombay, arrived. Baba embraced them, conveying how happy he was to see them both.
Then Baba entered the hall. Long lines of devotees waited for his darshan, since this was the last day Baba would be meeting with his lovers. Music was played and the darshan began. At 8:30 A.M., Harry Kenmore recited the Master's Prayer.
About a dozen Gujarati women came for Baba's darshan. They were led by one woman who was revered as a saint and had a large following in Gujarat. They asked Baba if they could be given the privilege of singing a bhajan. Baba permitted it and they sang in beautiful harmony. Others joined in the singing. Even Baba tapped his chair in time to the music. After this, Baba's grandniece Mehernaz (Jehangu and Gulnar's four-year-old daughter) gave a cute dance performance. Baba asked his brother Beheram, (the child's grandfather), to take a movie of her. Beheram was kept busy with his camera that day.
At about 9:30 A.M., Vithal Shinde arrived; he was a famous All India Radio musician from Bombay. He had come on his own for Baba's darshan, and he sang a number of ghazals. He had a sweet voice and Baba enjoyed the performance. On hearing a particular ghazal, Baba remarked, "See the irony of it! In spite of the prevailing prohibition enforced by the government of Maharashtra, many people still drink alcohol. But although there is no prohibition against drinking the Wine of divine love — it is available to all in whatever quantity one desires — yet rarely does one thirst to drink that wine! What a tamasha [farce]!"
A Parsi priest came, and Baba asked him to sing a bhajan. The man loved Baba and complied. It was quite an unusual scene to see a Zoroastrian priest (most of whom, like other priests, are so engrossed in ritualistic ceremonies) singing a Hindu bhajan, wherein the theme was that only Ram (the Avatar), and nothing but he, exists.
At 10:30 A.M., Baba's arti was sung and all departed. Baba came to the side room half an hour later and met Polly Umrigar, Nari Contractor and three other Parsi cricketers from Bombay. He reminisced with them about his school days when he used to play cricket, and then stated, "To know me as I am is very difficult. I am Infinite and I experience it continuously. Only a rare one experiences this state."
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