has done is to make you a promise. All you have to do is remember that." And I do.

Then I went to Mehera's room — there must have been 20 women there — and Mehera told me that they had a sari they wanted me to try on. It was a pale lavender sari with little golden flecks in it. They all got involved in dressing me up, and Goher kept saying to me, "Put your hands together and say 'Namaste, Baba."' She made me repeat it over and over and over again. We got the sari on and all of a sudden we all left Mehera's room and were trouping across that main hall. Goher opened another door, shoved me in the back and slammed the door behind me. I was back in Mandali Hall with Baba and the men mandali, Fred and Harry, and 75 men who'd just arrived from Hamipur. It was the first time I'd ever worn a sari and all I could think about was that it was not going to stay on! I looked at Baba and remembered what Goher had said, and I said, "Namaste, Baba." And He gave me a sign: "Beautiful." He called me over, gave me an embrace, and said, "Now you go back to the women." What nobody else knew that, this being the last day, I wanted to get dressed up for Baba. I was head over heels in love, it was my natural human reaction. But I had come to India with only one change of clothes, not planning to be there long, and I had nothing to get dressed up in. So, He provided. He's the Avatar and the Perfect, Perfect Master, and also the perfect Host. Every dumb little human whim that I had He responded to.

When I got back to Mehera, she said that the sari was hers, and that Baba had said that she could give it to me as a gift from her and Baba. Of course, after that, I felt I wanted to give something to Mehera, but one of the stipulations of that darshan was that no one was to bring gifts for the mandali, so I wouldn't even ask. That night, Goher came to my room at the hotel and said, "Baba would like you to get some things for Mehera in the West."

I said, "I'd be glad to do it. How do you think Baba would feel if I paid for it?"

She smiled that wonderful smile and said, "Baba said you wouldn't take the money."

When that last day finally came, it coincided with the end of that darshan. Baba had told us that He wanted all of us to go back on the same flight, so there was a lot of flight changing. We'd come on different airlines, but He said, "You must go back on the same flight."

On the last morning, Baba sent word to everybody, even though they'd had their hour, that if they were still in Poona, they must come that afternoon for darshan. There were thousands of people who had stayed in Poona on the chance that's exactly what He'd do, invite them back again. So, that afternoon, when we went out, there were 5,000 people waiting to have darshan and to receive prasad. Baba had said that people were to come and get the prasad and leave immediately. So, when I went up to get it, I did that. I took it from His hand and I turned around and started to walk out the door. I felt a hand on the back of my neck. It was Rano. She said, "He didn't mean you, go back and sit down." Rano and I became very close; that's why I ended up working on her book. She was wonderful. She was a grounding influence. I mean, I was so spaced out that time; she kept me from walking off the edge.