change of clothes and he would not allow much attention to be paid to these matters. Amongst the visitors, there was a Brahmin, Bapu, a simpleton married to a pretty young woman. Bapu, who could cook, was drawn to Merwan during a few visits he paid. The disciples then thought it wise to entrust Bapu the work of preparing regular meals for Merwan.

I became once-a-week visitor to Kasba Peth especially on the Sunday evenings. It was here that I heard Merwan being called Meher Baba* and I felt the name to have become so compatible with the love and reverence that was evoked in me during the past few months. There were moments, when I sat with Meher Baba alone and the spontaneous instructive short discourses that he gave me went deep down in me to mould the future character of a boy of only 19 years.

One that I prominently remember is:

"Keep your activity attached to your duty, which is to study hard in college, but keep your       heart attached to me. Think of me as the sole occupation of your life."

In carrying out this instruction, I had often to ask Baba whether during hours of study, I had simultaneously to keep remembering him. He discouraged this method wholly and said, it was in all spare moments that I had to remember him and love him. To be given over to the love of one's mother or brother, one had not to coerce himself to keep a conscious remembrance. It was inner dedication that was needed.

Poona Zhopdi

At the far end of the Ferguson College Road in Poona, Baba liked the site of an open ground, about one thousand yards away from the road and inwards into the field and there a small cottage was built for him to stay. When it was ready, Baba stayed there most time of the day and night and only paid occasional visits to Kasba Peth, which was situated on one side of the river and the hut or zhopdi, as it was called, on the other side. There was the Bhamburda Causeway crossing of the river, joining Kasba Peth and the path to the zhopdi. Baba used to have about a dozen companions near him during the day, and at night only Baily was there, but later Arjun was made to join.

I had become progressively obedient to Baba and I did nothing that he said he did not like me to do, except that I could not pay much attention to my study of the First Year Arts in spite of his occasional admonitions. Again as wished by him, I paid visits to the zhopdi every evening and used to spend there the whole day every Sunday. Gulmai occasionally came to Poona and was seen passing the whole day in the company of Meher Baba. My brother Rustom and my cousin too were occasional visitors. Here I saw Padri (Faredun N. Driver) at times, sitting with other companions of Meher Baba. There were some new outside visitors also, having a peep or darshan or a brief halt at the zhopdi.

Once there were a few Irani Zoroastrian men, having come over there out of mischievous curiosity. Before they could approach Baba and ask him some questionable questions, one of them unguardedly fell into a ditch nearby and all of them were shocked into silence. With casual inquiries as of strangers, in justification of their visit, they departed with unexpressed embarrassment. I fail to remember full details

His Person and Inner Work

Meher Baba, during his early life, after severance of his personal (normally

*I heard that it was Sayyed Saheb, a very old disciple of Baba, who first called him Meher Baba.