At another time he said: "Love and forget. This is the only thing that matters and it pays. Almost all of you are weak. By weak, I mean taken up with desires. Anger is weakness, pride is weakness, and so on. If a mother found her child weak, she would love her all the more. So, all love more. You will love more the child that is weak. Learn to jan-e-do . . . give up wanting the last word. Give up all wants and be happy. But you must try consciously. The stone wants nothing, but wants nothing unconsciously."

Then Baba, with his ready sense of humor, tenderness and love, knowing we all try, although failing so repeatedly, would add the sweet to the bitter and continue: "Now be happy. I forgive you all, but go on trying. How about going away for the summer?"

Several places would be suggested and Baba would call for the opinion of a few of the group on Mysore, Hyderabad, Panchgani, and Bangalore . . .of course Baba had it all planned; two of Baba's mandali had already gone ahead as usual to prepare for Baba's particular work with the masts and the poor. Yet he liked to give us a choice sometimes and watch our reactions, our interest and keenness and whether also we were considering his work, because all knew travel with Baba is never a "soft cushion." Hardships are the order of the day rather than the exception.

The Blue Bus Tours of India —1938-1940

Sarosh Irani, owner of the Sarosh Motor Works in Ahmednagar, had built a special blue bus for these tours of Baba with his women disciples (the men usually followed by railway, third-class). It was a period when Baba was working intensively, with his group of Western and Eastern women, plus all his other work. These tours appeared to have a three-fold purpose: (1) mast work, (2) searching for prospective sites for Baba's Universal Centers, and (3) visits to places of historic interest and the shrines of saints and holy men. All the while our training and discipline continued."

On its maiden trip, the blue bus was so loaded with baggage inside and on top, we never thought it would reach the bottom of the hill safely. So, those of us who could, walked down the hill to lighten the load. Needless to say, Baba later drastically cut down our individual baggage. Bedding rolls,

*A fuller account of the places visited on these tours is given in the Meher Baba Journals in Dadachanji's Diary, etc.