Mr. Shahriar Mehrabanpoor recalls his life in the Prem Ashram:

I first heard of Baba's name when Mr. Baidul came to Iran to take the children for Baba's school. After that, I could not stay in Iran; all I wanted was to go to Baba. I had no money, so I borrowed some, and went to Bombay. There I ran out of money, and didn't have enough to take the train and go see Baba. I borrowed five rupees; and when I got to Ahmednagar, that money also ran out. I was SO hungry when I got there, and there was still three kilometers to reach Baba.

I walked there on foot, and saw a sign saying "Hazrat Babajan High School." So I realized that that was Meherabad though I had never been there before. So I started to walk, amble around. Finally a Hindu boy came and asked me, "What do you want?" I told him, "I have come to visit Baba." So he went and told Baba, and then Baba told him to ask me to go see him.

I went in Baba's presence and I bowed down, and Baba asked me, "Have you eaten anything?" And I said, "No, I am very hungry." So the first thing Baba said was "Give him something to eat," and also left a message that Mr. Afseri should come. I ate something, and Mr. Afseri also arrived. When Afseri was there, Baba asked me to tell him all I had done in my life; I told him that I had gone to that Murshid whom I had been with for a while; I also told him about the hypnotism and mesmerism I had started to learn. Baba told me, "All of that is zero, is nothing, and is the cause of misfortune. Do something that would make you become the owner of everything." And then he told me to go out with Afseri.

With Afseri we went to Arangaon, and at night we came back to Meherabad and had our dinner. He told me that in the morning at eight o'clock I should go to see Baba. So, we slept that night, and next morning at eight o'clock I went to see Baba. There was a boy called Behram Faridun, or Bua-Saheb, who had come down also to lower Meherabad; he was in charge of the rest of the people there. Baba told me that I should go after Bua-Saheb, or Behram Faridun, and do whatever he would tell me. And he told me that from that day on I had to observe complete silence.

From that moment, I started to observe silence, and went to upper Meherabad. My job was to sit at the gate there, and I would also mince vegetables; too, I had to stop the cars which came there, because they had to have permission to go any farther. So that was my work there, and whenever anybody would come to the gate, I would go and tell Bua-Saheb. We were there till finally Baba himself came to upper Meherabad.

Then Baba gradually started to give love to the children, and these children were absorbed in that love. Gradually, Baba started to open the Prem Ashram, and sent us there. We had practiced reading and writing for six months. For two months we would have food only once a day, two months with water once a day, and two months with milk once a day. There were six of us: one was a Moslem, three were Hindus, one of which was a doctor, one was from Iran (myself), and another one was a Parsi man. After two months, three of them left; they had acquired some love, and after that they left. Only Doctor Ghaneker and myself were left. We were older than the others. Prem Ashram had not started then; later Baba started to give love to Abdulla Pakravan, to Sayyed Ali, Buaji, and Ramo. These were the ones whom I say had much love. And gradually Prem Ashram started for the boys. There were 33 of them.

When I first arrived, Baba's orders were that I should sit in a corner and for two hours, think of God and meditate on God. And everyday I would sit for two hours, from five to seven in the evening. Baba had told Bua-Saheb that at seven o'clock he should come and fetch me. But one day, I was sitting and meditating under the tree, when it started to rain and pour very hard. Behram had forgotten to come and tell me that it was seven o'clock. Two hours passed, and then it was four hours, but I did not get up.