nationality is?" Sensing her seriousness, they apologized and bought some booklets just to show that there was no ill-feeling.

Doubting Thomases

Many sceptics and doubting Thomases visited the stall with a scornful attitude. One such person came asking what this Meher Baba business was all about, saying that these days one comes across all sorts of Babas, Simla Baba, Sangrur Baba, Sai Baba, and so on. He asked what this Meher Baba Bimari (disease) was. To this Brother Mehrotra said, “This Meher Baba disease is a very serious disease. Once anybody catches it one cannot get rid of it. There is no cure for it. There is no escape." After hearing a little talk about Baba we could see his face softening with a gentle smile appearing on his lips. Collecting a few booklets he vanished without a word.

On another occasion a Brahma Kumar, belonging to some Viswa Brahma Samaj group, came to the stall in an argumentative mood We tried to explain to him about Baba and His message, but instead of listening to us, in a loud voice and bombastic words he started speaking about his own beliefs with great flourish. When we told him that our stall was not a debating platform and that if he did not agree with our views he could leave, he started thumping the counter and demanding an explanation how we dare call Meher Baba an Avatar and that it was blasphemy. At that moment I folded my hands and told him that we were not forcing him to believe anything and that he should please leave. He became all the more excited. A big crowd which had collected in the meantime, sympathizing with me, started booing him; and eventually his friends had to drag him away. In his "virodha bhakti"* as Baba calls it, the Brahma Kumar also did his work in collecting that extra crowd which had Baba's darshan. Members of other organizations and cults also visited the stall on other days.

The Unhappy Soul

Amongst the series of visitors, there were many who brought their personal problems, wanting a solution. One such youngster narrated his sad life of confusion and contradictions. He said that his father who is a follower of the Radha Swami Satsang (group) who meditated from morning to evening doing Puja, Japa and Tapa (all sorts of rituals), troubled him and his mother for no rhyme or reason. He was even dragging them to the court about some property matter. He wondered how the apparently spiritual

*Antagonistic expression which also helps in God's work