Meher Baba's Life & Travels
ESTABLISHING HIS CENTRE
1924 - Part A
Chapter 6 :
1.
INTRODUCTION & CONTENTS
The story of Meher Baba's advent continues from Chapter 5.
This web page / chapter 6, will
follow Meher Baba ( Merwan Irani ) in 1924 with his first close group of both male & female followers, through the rest of the
1920s.
The beginning of this page continues
the story from the previous page, with Meher Baba and his first group of men mandali ( close ones ) residing in
different locations such as Bombay, Poona, Lonavla and
in Ahmednagar. There were some long distance walks and trips throughout India in rapid succession, Baba not quite settling down in the area near Arangaon village, which was later known as Meherabad.
Click on images and maps to enlarge them, also click on the under-scored names to visit their web-pages.
1924 - First half
CONTENT : 1. INTRODUCTION &
CONTENTS
2. BOMBAY
3. 1ST TRIP TO PERSIA ( IRAN )
4. TOUR OF NORTH & CENTRAL INDIA
5. TRIP TO AURANGABAD
6. TRIP TO KARACHI & QUETTA
Page references are marked RD ( Ramjoo's Diary ) & LM ( Lord Meher ).
Click on the following button to visit the previous page in Meher Baba's Advent.
Meher Baba travelled during 1924, by various modes within the area of the Indian sub-continent map shown below.
2. BOMBAY
December 1923
In the last week of December, Baba went to Poona for a couple of days and stayed at Sadashiv's place in Kasba Peth. Baba held a large darshan program with several hundred people attending.
Ramjoo had received a letter from Baba on the 30th December, detailing his travel plans and telling him to remain in Lonavla after their meeting on the 31st. It was signed - Merwan.
Soon afterwards, Baba returned to Meherabad without anyone (except for a few men) knowing where he had been. He was still on a fast. On the 31st December, Baba came out of seclusion and left Meherabad for Bombay via the Poona rail line, with Beheramji and Gustadji. Baba had written earlier to Dr. Ghani and Ramjoo to meet him at Lonavla station when his train arrived there on the way to Bombay. When they arrived, the men were alarmed by Baba's poor physical appearance. Due to his fasting, his appearance was like that of a skeleton, but he was also very cheerful. They gave him some cocoa and they travelled with him as far as Khandala. Baba arrived in Bombay that night and stayed at the Bharucha Building, which Vajifdar had rented according to Baba's instructions. Here he maintained his seclusion but curtailed his fasting periods.
This brought the momentous year for Meher Baba of 1923 to a close.
Ramjoo's Diaries p. 275 - 285
Lord Meher Vol. 2 p.588 - 589
29th December 1923 Historical Timeline :
-
Russian-born American engineer Vladimir K. Zworykin and Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company filed the first
application for Zworykin's invention, "Television System". It was granted in late Dec. 1938.
- The government of Germany agreed to pay the expenses incurred by France and Belgium for occupation of Germany's Ruhr area.
- The Italian steamship SS Mutlah and its crew of 40 disappeared after sending a distress call while sailing in the Mediterranean Sea.
JANUARY 1924
Gulmai Irani had been sent by Meher Baba to Sakori ( Upasni Mahraj's ashram ) at the start of the month to bring Mehera ( 16 ) & Khorshed Irani ( 12.5 ) to Bombay, where they stayed at the Irani Mansions, the home of Khorshed's parents.
Mehera's mother Daulat was also there.
Both Mehera & Khorshed came daily for Baba's darshan at the Bharucha Building.
LM Vol.2 p.589
* Note : There are NO teenage pictures of Mehera J. Irani. She would have been 16 y.o.
UPASNI MAHARAJ DAULAT S. IRANI GUMAI K. IRANI KHORSHED K. IRANI
January continued...
During this month, Baba went with Naval Talati for a walk at Chowpatty Beach in Bombay.
( see map below ). Baba noticed a man and asked Naval to find out who he was. A dialogue between Baba and this man Feramroz H. Dadachanji ensued, with Baba telling him he was to be part of his Universal Cinema. Naval explained to Feramroz ( later named by Baba as "Chanji" ) who Baba was and after giving him Baba's address they left.
The man had been planning to take his life by drowning but changed his mind after receiving this new hope.
He started to visit Baba and soon his family came to Baba as well.
Chanji had a cinema in Bombay called the Madelaine Cinema near the corner of Grant & Lamington Streets which he co-owned with his best friend. This friend had an affair with Chanji's wife which led to a divorce, which had led him later to contemplate suicide.
Chanji was to become Meher Baba's secretary and served him for
about 20 years.
LM Vol.2 p.589
A fuller account of this encounter is
on Feramroz's ( Chanji's ) webpage, click on the name
below.
Feramroz H. Dadachanji Bombay map Madelaine Cinema Naval Talati
January continued...
Throughout January, Meher Baba fasted, but he broke the fast on Jan. 20th. The following day, Vladimir I. Lenin, the Communist Russian leader died. (
see Historic Timeline below )
Later the same month, Baba resumed fasting even though his mother, who was very upset with his physical appearance, had
scolded him.
On the 29th January, some of the men mandali went to the Persian
Consulate in Bombay with their passports. Elsewhere, after some deliberations, Baba decided to go to Persia via Bandar
Abbas instead of going to Baghdad, Iraq.
Baba determined that 8 men were to go with him.
January 1924 Historical Timeline :
3rd January : British archaeologist Howard Carter and his work team discovered the stone sarcophagus of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in his tomb near Luxor in Egypt.
6th January : Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk survived a bomb attack, but his wife Latife Uşşaki was injured.[6] The assailant visited Atatürk's home and asked to see him, then threw a bomb when he appeared.
21st January : Lenin dies : Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Vladimir Lenin, He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924.
22nd January : British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin resigned following a vote of no confidence the previous day. Ramsay MacDonald was summoned by King George V to Buckingham Palace to form a government and became the first Labour Party Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
3. 1st Trip to Persia
February 1924
On 12th February (according to the Parsi calendar ), a birthday feast, with lots of food, was held for Baba at his premises.
This coincided with the Perfect Master Upasni Maharaj coming out of his bamboo cage, ending a very long confinement period.
They boarded the ship S.S. Varela on 22nd February at 7:30am and departed Bombay harbour at 9:30am.
The men mandali that accompanied Meher Baba were :
Adi K. Irani, Beheramji H. Irani, Rustom B.'Baidul' Jafrabadi, Gustadji N. Hansotia, Rustom G.'Masaji' Irani, Khodadad F. 'Nervous' Irani, Faredoon 'Padri' Driver, Hormusji Vajifdar.
The other men that were left behind were told to wait at their homes until their return.
Mehera and her mother Daulat returned to their house in Poona.
RD p.297
LM p.600
February 1924 Historical Timeline :
3rd : Woodrow Wilson, who had served as President of the United States from 1913 to 1921, died at the age of 67 in his home at 2340 S Street NW in Washington, D.C., at 11:15 in the morning.
4th : Indian freedom fighter Mohandas K. Gandhi, known for his campaign of passive resistance in pursuing the independence of India from the British Empire, was released from incarceration in Ahmedabad after serving less than two years of his six-year prison sentence for sedition. He is recovering from a serious illness.
12th : The George Gershwin musical composition Rhapsody in Blue premiered at the Aeolian Hall in New York City.
https://www.meherbabatravels.com/ship-travels/varela/
MEHER BABA ADI K. IRANI GUSTADJI HANSOTIA "BAIDUL" JAFRABADI PILAMAI IRANI
BEHRAMJI H.IRANI "MASAJI" IRANI "NERVOUS" IRANI "PADRI" DRIVER HORMUSJI VAJIFDAR
February cont.
During the 2 day voyage to Karachi. Meher Baba and his men always travelled lower class, which meant they stayed on the deck of the ship and braved the elements. Masaji did the cooking, mostly simple vegetarian meals with tea. Beheramji came down with a fever, and Adi had sea-sickness. Baba nursed both of them until they arrived in Karachi.
Pilamai had come to the wharf to see Baba on the 24th February, bringing flowers, vegetables, etc. Other admirers came as well. They soon departed the same day and some days later, when they entered the Persian Gulf, the waters were calm, allowing them to steam ahead to Bahrain where they arrived around the 28th and then to the Persian port of Bushire, arriving about the 1st March.
RD p.298
* Please note : Adi K. Irani who was writing in the diary during this trip, did not write the dates of the arrivals or departures to or from these ports. The dates given are the webmasters estimates only.
February 1924 Historical Timeline :
15th : U.S. troops began their intervention in the civil war in Honduras.
16th : Nearly 200,000 British dock workers went on strike.
22nd : Calvin Coolidge became the first President to make a radio broadcast from the White House.
23rd : Albanian Prime Minister Ahmet Zogu was shot twice by anarchist and survived despite being wounded.
29th : Trial began in Munich for charges of treason arising from the Beer Hall Putsch of November 9, 1923, with Adolf Hitler, and nine other Nazis began in Munich.
1st March , 1924
When the ship arrived in Bushire on the 1st, a launch took the passengers to the dock where very agile porters took their belongings and placed them on mules to be taken to Mr. Gilam Husain Lodi's house. A very cold front had set in prior to their arrival in Bushire. Keeping warm was crucial, the whole atmosphere was very wet and gloomy and not comfortable.
Both Baba and Vajifdar were suffering from nausea. Water had been purchased and brought to the house, but it had maggots in it and was also cloudy white. They decided to go inland to Shiraz, the home of the Perfect Master and poet Hafiz *( b.1325 - d.1390 ) and hired a truck to transport them there for 400 rupees.
The next day, 2nd March, Padri also came down with a severe fever, so Baba decided to cancel that trip and take another ship the S.S. Baroja back to Karachi. It was agreed that Baidul and Beheramji were to disembark at Bandar Abba on the way, so they could go to their respective homes in Persia, while the rest went on to Karachi.
The S.S. Baroja was very basic, a combined passenger and cargo ship.
RD p.300
LM p.601
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafez
March 1924 Historical Timeline :
1st : The Nixon Nitration Works disaster, an explosion of ammonium nitrate, killed at least 18 people, destroyed several miles of New Jersey factories, and demolished the town of Nixon, New Jersey.
March 3 - 6th, 1924
The ship departed for Bandar Abbas, the passengers comprised many Arabs, who were not civilized compared to Western standards, by killing animals by the score for their meals and relieving themselves anywhere thet liked. The men were quite shocked by their behaviour.
They arrived a couple of days later. After Baidul and Beheramji disembarked, the ship remained for a couple of hours before sailing to the small port of Li(e)ngeh, and then onto the island of Ha(e)ngam.
RD p.303
March 1924 Historical Timeline :
3rd : The Turkish National Assembly formally ended the Ottoman Caliphate that had operated for 407 years, voting "almost unanimously" to abolish the office, and ordered that Abdulmejid II and his harem were to be deported by March 15.
4th : Aidan de Brune became the first person to walk all the way around Australia, returning to Melbourne from whence he had departed on September 20, 1921.
* A 7.1 magnitude earthquake, with an epicenter at Orotina in Costa Rica,killing 70 people.
5th : Hussein bin Ali, King of the Hejaz (now Saudi Arabia) and Sharif of Mecca, was proclaimed the Caliph of all Muslims by Muslim leaders in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Transjordania (now Jordan). The response throughout the Muslim world was mostly negative.
Lengeh / Bandar Lengeh, Iran nowadays
The port of Hengam, Iran nowadays
March 7 - 15th
The ship then steamed to the port of Muscat, Oman on the other side of the Straits of Hormuz taking several days to arrive. After a stay
in the port, the ship departed for Karachi, arriving in mid-March.
Before arriving in Karachi, Baba met Gurkhas on board and they suggested that Baba and his men should go to Kathmandu in Nepal. He agreed to go there.
March 1924 Historical Timeline :
8th : All 171 miners were killed in two explosions at the Castle Gate mine at Castle Gate, Utah.
Inventor Nikola Tesla spoke out for the first time in years, announcing he had perfected a system of transmitting power without wires.
Georgios Kafantaris was forced by the Greek Army to resign as Prime Minister of Greece,
13th : German Chancellor Wilhelm Marx dissolved the Reichstag ahead of a general election to be held on May 4.
15th : Egypt's King Fuad I opened the initial session of the first-ever Egyptian constitutional parliament.
4.
TOUR OF NORTH & CENTRAL INDIA
Mid-March 1924
When they arrived in Karachi, Vajifdar took Padri to Pilamai's house because he was still terribly ill and Nervous was assigned to look after him.
Meanwhile, the luggage of Meher Baba, and of the remaining 3 men, arrived at the railway station from the dock. The men all rested in the waiting room of the station until their train the Quetta Mail was ready to leave. Later, Vajifdar returned to join the group which brought the number of Baba's men Mandali (close ones) to 4.
The remaining men mandali were Adi, Gustadji, Masaji & Vajifdar.
LM p.603
March 1924 Historical Timeline :
17th : The first attempt to fly around the world began as four Douglas World Cruiser airplanes, piloted by members of the United States Army Air Service, departed from Santa Monica, California, for Seattle, the starting point of the global circumnavigation. They returned to Seattle 175 days later on September 28.
Mid-March continued
The train later left Karachi for Hyderabad ( Sind ), then changed trains for Jaipur and onto Lucknow. Here, Baba went to the bazaar looking for sandals, but was disappointed with what was being offered. Baba was still wearing the woollen Kamli coat that Yeshwant Rao had given him and the sandals that Kanhoba Rao made back in India prior to travelling.
Masaji did all the cooking for the group including the teas.
RD p.301
The above image of the Kamli coat is how it appears in the Meherabad Museum. Baba had worn the coat for about 10 years. During this time it was constantly patched up by the women mandali.
continued
Leaving Lucknow, they proceeded to Raxaul which is a frontier station on the Nepalese border. They discovered that they had missed the entry date by a few days. Baba had sent telegrams to various government authorities, but permission was not granted.
continued
They then decided to proceed to Maghar (via Gorakhpur) and visit the tomb of the renowned poet and Perfect Master Kabir, staying for 2 days. Baba had the men feed 50 poor people here, all the surplus provisions were distributed which made their luggage considerably lighter.
There are 2 tombs for Kabir in the Maghar, one for the Hindus and one for the Muslims.
Baba had to intervene in a quarrel here between 2 groups of travelling sadhus (spiritual aspirants). He told them sternly on how to behave when one lives the life of a pilgrim.
RD p.302
LM p.604
Mid-March continued
*They left Maghar for Cawnpore ( Kanpur ) some 200 miles / 320 Kms away. When they arrived in Cawnpore, it took them awhile riding in a tonga to find a suitable place to stay at a dhamashala (rest house). They later went to the local bathing steps by tram cars to bathe in the Ganges River.
RD p.302
LM p.604
* The
2 references used to write the account of this trip have different versions on how Baba and his men went from
Maghar to Cawnpore.
The Lord Meher book & On-line versions having a horse tonga transporting 6 men including the
driver, 200 miles / 320 Kms in a couple of days. That is not possible.
The only viable option was that they took the
train at Maghar for Cawnpore via Basti, Mankapur, Faizabad
( Ayodhya ) and Lucknow.
The account in Ramjoo's Diary only stated "From here the party came to Cawnpore".
Webmaster
continued
After leaving Cawnpore by train, Baba instructed Vajifdar to return to Bombay, Masaji to Poona, Gustadji and Adi to Ahmednager. He also asked Gustadji to find a suitable location about 5-6 miles ( 8-10Kms ) from Sakori for future work.
continued
When the train arrived at Itarsi, Meher Baba alone, alighted. As instructed, the men mandali travelled to their assigned destinations.
Baba roamed about the town and surrounding countryside, coming across other spiritual masters. After a week, near the end of March, Baba returned and joined the mandali at Meherabad, near Arangaon.
This concludes Adi K. Irani's account in Ramjoo's diary.
RD p.303
This period of Meher Baba being by himself was very rare, the only other time during his advent was when he disappeared for about a day while visiting Istanbul in 1931.
Nothing is known of what he did, or whom he met or of what he said.
Webmaster
On 26th March, Ramjoo Jaffer received a telegram from Meher Baba telling him to come to Meherabad at once. As he was about to leave, he developed a severe fever, and became very weak and barely able to walk. His family protested against him leaving but he still boarded the train from Lonavla to Ahmednagar at 2:30pm. He reached Baba's camp at 10:30 that night with the fever slightly subsided.
The next day, Baba told Ramjoo that he had decided to stay near to Arangaon and he wanted him to move there. Employment for Ramjoo was being arranged so that he could continue to support his family. However, because of an upcoming wedding, Ramjoo was obliged to postpone the move until after the 7th of April.
Ramjoo walked to the Ahmednagar Railway station to catch the train back to Lonavla. On the 8th April, after attending the marriage ceremonies, Ramjoo returned to Meherabad to help the men with building and earth works.The work was hard and steady every day.
Others from the Kasba Peth group in Poona ; Arjun, Chowdhari, Kondiram, Vishnu and others were called to stay at Meherabad to fix the new settlement.
RD p. 304-6
March 1924 Historical Timeline :
25th : The Greek Parliament voted to depose King George II and declare the Second Hellenic Republic. A public referendum on the issue was set for April 13.
A three-man team of British fliers, led by navigator Archibald Stuart-MacLaren, accompanied by pilot William Noble Plenderleith and flight engineer Sergeant W. H. Andrews, became the first of six different groups to attempt the first trip around the world by airplane.
26th : French Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré resigned after his government was defeated.
Over 100 people died in landslides around Amalfi in Italy.
27th : The opening of the first elected parliament in the Kingdom of Iraq.
Born: Sarah Vaughan, American jazz singer; in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1990)
31st : The air transport company Imperial Airways was founded in the United Kingdom by the merger of the UK's four existing airlines. The four combined their aircraft for a fleet of 13 planes operating out of Croydon Airport to serve international flights to and from London.
RAMJOO ARJUN CHOWDHARI KONDIRAM VISHNU
April 13th was the Hindu festival for Rama-Navri. A canopy was erected at Baba's newly built room - Jhopdi, later many from Poona arrived for the occasion.
Baily, Barsoap, Padri, Masaji, Khan Saheb, *Kaikushru along with **Bhikolya and his singing party.
RD p.307
LM p.608
* It is assumed that Kaikushru mentioned is Gulmai's husband, who had
owned the land of Meherabad, prior to Meher Baba's arrival.
**There is no known image of Bhikolya
April 1924 Historical Timeline :
1st : The verdicts in the Beer Hall Putsch trial were announced. Adolf Hitler, and several others were all found guilty of treason and sentenced to five years in prison, with a chance of parole in six months. Hitler was taken to Landsberg Prison and given a large and comfortable room with a fine view.
2nd : On the Red Sea, the British cruise ship Clan McIver rescued more than 1,200 passengers, almost all of the Muslim pilgrims on their way to Mecca, from the British steamship SS Frangestan, a freighter which had caught fire after the ignition of its cargo of cotton. Clan McIver then delivered the 1,200 pilgrims to Port Sudan
3rd : Marlon Brando, American stage and film actor, winner of two Academy Awards, he declined one.
5th : In the town of Lilly, Pennsylvania, 500 members of the Ku Klux Klan shot 22 people, two of them fatally, firing randomly into a crowd at the town's railroad station.
8th : On recommendation of Prime Minister Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Sharia courts were abolished by vote of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and the Islamic law judges (Qadis) were dismissed.
13th : Voters in Greece overwhelmingly voted to abolish the monarchy and to endorse the Second Hellenic Republic that had been proclaimed by parliament, subject to public approval, on March 25. Out of more than one million people who cast votes, over 758,000 opted in favor of a republic with Pavlos Kountouriotis as president.
Mid- April continued - April is the middle of
Summer
Someone proposed that those who were devoted to MeherBaba, Upasni and Babajan, should display a distinctive sign and that they should wear specific coloured clothing.
Baba was not in favour of it. "Ours is not a society. Any mark of distinction would rob us of our independence and would prove a binding to restrict our minds." Hence the idea was dropped and the meeting was dissolved.
The festivities lasted several days, with many stories told of past Masters, singing and lectures on
spirituality. One evening Baba made several essential messages, including the following extract - "Once I settle here, the
atmosphere of this place will be greatly heightened spiritually and materially. I have a 'great mission' to perform, in my life for the benefit of humanity, the outcome of which will be observed
in the near future".
On the 14th April at 11am, a mass feeding started and continued until evening, nearly a thousand poor and destitute people were fed. The food was cooked by Chowdhari and others. Kondiram had returned to his ill mother. LM p.608
The following day 15th April, a meeting was held to
suggest a name for Baba's newly built one room hut. He suggested the name "Jhodpi" (hut). Others referred to it as 'Agra Kuti' ( 1st hut).
* see the above images of the
hut.
They also agreed to name the 3 animals that Mehera's mother Daulat had brought to Meherabad. The white horse was called 'Sufi', the white dog 'Sadhu' and the bullock 'Saint'. Many discourses were given during this time. Baba had made Ramjoo and Gustadji co-managers of Meherabad.
LM p.616
14th April
Meher Baba gave a discourse on '2 Types of Realized Human Beings'.
To read these discourses click here - '2 Types of Realized Human Beings'
15th April
Meher Baba gave a discourse on 'Types of Spiritual Advanced Souls'.
To read these discourses click here - 'Types of Spiritual Advanced Souls'
18th April
Meher Baba gave a discourse on 'Maya'.
To read these discourses click here - 'Maya'
April 1924 Historical Timeline :
16th : Born - Henry Mancini (Enrico Mancini), American composer of film and television scores, including "Moon River" and "The Pink Panther Theme".
20th : Born - Leslie Phillips, British actor; in Tottenham, London (d. 2022)
April continued
On 20th April, Rustom bought a copy of the Gujarati newspaper 'Akhbar', which contained Sohrabji Desai's review of Upasni Maharaj's biography. He also wrote in the same paper, that he had met Meher Baba and fully believed that he was 'the coming of the Jagat Guru' - Master of the Universe, the Avatar. LM p. 615
The following day, 21st, Naval, Dina and her mother Rupamai arrived from Bombay. Gulmai who came daily, arrived with Rustom who bought a bundle of sweets and the happy news that his wife Freiny ( Mehera's sister) had given birth to a son. The Master named him after himself - Merwan.
The next day, 22nd, a mast ( a God intoxicated person) arrived, he was very thirsty and hungry. Baba gave him new clothes and after feeding him, he was sent away. On another day, a mother and child came looking for food, they too were fed and given new clothes and sent away.
LM p.616
April continued
On the 23rd April, work was in progress; putting up a fence around the 'Jhodpdi'(hut), as well as a pavement to protect the plants. A while ago, it was decided that a flag would be erected near the hut, as is the custom with such spiritual sites.
What colour to use proved very divisive, the Hindus preferred a red flag, the Muslims -green and the Zoroastrians disliked both. Hence a compromise solution was given by Baba, that the flag be formed of 7 colours. A flag was prepared by Dina Talati.
After many hours of work, the flag was hoisted at night.
As the flag stirred, Baba remarked, "Do you know why I suggested a seven-coloured flag? The seven colours represent the seven planes of consciousness." Meher Baba then specified the positioning of two of the colours: "Red should be at the bottom of the flag and sky blue at the top. Arrangement of the other five colours is your decision." Then he later added: "Besides representing the seven planes of consciousness, these colours also represent SANSKARAS -- impressions. The colours in the flag signify man’s rise from the grossest impressions of lust and anger -- symbolized by red -- to the culmination in the highest state of spirituality and oneness with God -- symbolized by sky blue."
LORD MEHER, Vol. Two, p. 619
RD p.317
23rd April
Meher Baba gave a discourse on 'Planets & Stars'.
To read these discourses click here - 'Planets & Stars'
24th April
Meher Baba gave a discourse on 'Looking for a Guru'
To read these discourses click here - - 'Looking for a Guru'
26th April
Meher Baba gave a discourse on 'Diet & Sexuality'
'To read these discourses click here - 'Diet & Sexuality'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=411cpFNxfqI
https://www.jaibaba.com/index.php/featured-areas/the-history-of-meher-baba-s-rainbow-flag.html
April 1924 Historical Timeline :
23rd : The British Empire Exhibition was opened at Wembley on Saint George's Day as King George VI made the first radio broadcast ever by a British monarch in the opening ceremonies.
24th : In Leningrad, hundreds of Russian Orthodox worshipers unsuccessfully attempted to stop police from confiscating religious icons from Saint Andrew's Cathedral.
28th : An explosion and toxic gas killed 119 coal miners working in Benwood, West Virginia.
30th : An outbreak of tornadoes killed 111 people across in five states in the southern U.S,[129] with 76 deaths in South Carolina, primarily in a storm that swept through Richland County Sumter County. Another 16 died in Georgia and 13 in Alabama.
April continued
The Satha brothers, followers of Gandhi, arrived on the 27th April, to see Baba.
In the afternoon, Baba went to Happy Valley for a drive with Munshi, Syedsahid*, Adi and Rustom. Here, Baba described the spiritual 'circles' in his realm and how they function.
They returned at 8pm to Meherabad, with Munshi and Syedsahid* returning to Bombay and Nasik respectively. Ramjoo also returned to Lonavla via Dhond, with Baba's permission to attend a coming festival.
RD p.323
*There is no known image of
Syedsahib.
RAMJOO JAFFER MUNSHI RAHIM ADI K. IRANI RUSTOM K. IRANI MAHATMA GANDHI
Ramjoo returned on the 9th May. Meher Baba had secluded himself in his hut and was was fasting as well.
Vishnu was stung by a scorpion, which resulted in him requiring treatment. Baba gathered all at his hut and warned them about the scorpions and especially snakes. He also told them to carry lights when they moved about at night.
The following day ( 10th ), Padri was asked by Baba to tell everyone what to do if bitten by a snake, which included first aid, as well as being taken to the local hospital in Ahmednagar for further treatment.
On the 12 May, Choudhari decided he had, had enough and was leaving for Poona without giving an explanation, not even to Baba when he asked him what troubled him. Baba then asked if anyone else wanted to join him and no one responded.
RD p.324
3rd May
Meher Baba gave a discourse on 'God-Realization'
'To read these discourses click here - 'God-Realization'
May 1924 Historical Timeline :
1st : Iodized salt, now used in table salt worldwide.
4th : At least 50 Muslims were killed in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk by the British-sponsored Assyrian Levies paramilitary force.
7th : In the Ruhr region of Germany, 300,000 miners went on strike over working hours.
10th : J. Edgar Hoover, a 29-year-old lawyer, became the U.S. Justice Department's Acting Director of the Bureau of Investigation, the predecessor to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Born : Antony Hewish, British radio astronomer and recipient of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics; in Fowey, Cornwall (d. 2021)
12th : Born - Tony Hancock, English radio and TV comedian known for the 1950s programme Hancock's Half Hour; in Hall Green, Birmingham(d. of suicide, 1968)
VISHNU DEORUKHAR "PADRI" FAREDOON DRIVER CHOUDHARI DR. GHANI MUNSIFF
May continued
Daulat Irani and her 2 daughters - *Mehera (17) and Freiny (20) came on the 19th May to stay for a couple of days. They were to share 2 rooms, with 3 other women, including
*Davla Masi.
Baba's jhodpi / hut was decorated with buntings, plantation leaves, etc, for Upasni Maharaj's birthday celebrations on the following day.
The following day ( 20th ), Baba's brothers Jamshed and Beheram arrived along with many others for the celebrations. Temporary shading was erected to provide shelter from the hot sun.
Devotional songs, bells, drums and other musical instruments filled the air for the joyous occasion. Later a rain shower came when 'prasad' ( blessed sweets from the Master ) were given out. Supper followed. Baba was still fasting.
On the 23rd, Dr. Ghani and *Abdul Tayeb arrived from Lonavla by car and placed it at Baba's disposal. Later, Baba gave Adi K. Irani permission to shave so he could attend his cousin's marriage that night. All the men including Baba, had beards and they were not allowed to shave.
RD p.332
* There is no known images of either Davla Masi or Abdul Tayeb.
May 1924 Historical Timeline :
18th : The Kīlauea volcano erupted in Hawaii with a violent explosion at the Halema‘uma‘u crater.
Born : Wolfgang Rindler, Austrian astrophysicist and author, known for coining the term "event horizon" in his 1956 paper "Visual Horizons in World Models"
19th : The first use of telephone lines to transmit images was made in a demonstration by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company of "a new process of transmitting pictures by electricity".
- The first aerial circumnavigation of Australia was carried out by an RAAF crew in a Fairey IIID.
- The Marx Brothers made their Broadway debut with the presentation of the stage show I'll Say She Is at the Casino Theatre.
20th : Over one million radio listeners in the United Kingdom listened in on an experimental broadcast from a garden in Surrey in which a nightingale's song was picked up by a microphone concealed in a bush.
25th : The Second Hellenic Republic was proclaimed in Greece, as Pavlos Kountouriotis was inaugurated as the former monarchy's new President. Kountouriotis had been serving as the Regent of Greece after King George II had gone into exile on December 23.
* There is no known image of Mehera as a
teenager. The image shown below is of her as a young adult.
May continued
It was decided on the 26th May, to drive to Aurangabad then to Daulatabad and onto the Ellora Caves in 2 cars, departing at 5:30am with 13 men mandali. The remaining people at Meherabad were to continue with their daily routines.
Adi K. Irani wrote - on the way, they came across the Imampur Ghats, 12 miles from Imampur. They halted at a village called Ghodegaon, where they took tea, before driving on to the town of Toka.
They finally arrived at Aurangabad and then later they looked for a resting place.
Note : See the following map.
RD p.333
May 1924 Historical Timeline :
26th : The Johnson–Reed Act, officially the U.S. Immigration Act of 1924, was signed into law by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge to restrict the entry of non-white foreigners into the United States
- The Battle of Turubah, which would determine the fate of the region that would become Saudi Arabia.
5. TRIP TO AURANGABAD
May continued
They had continuing car mishaps all the way to Daulatabad arriving at 6pm. Baba advised he wasn't keen travelling at night to the caves, so they returned to the rest house. Baba was not well during this time and had a sleepless night.
The following day, 27th May at 5am, the group all headed back to Meherabad, experiencing more car troubles all the way.
During the next few days, Baba mentioned possibly going to Kashmir with the Mandali, then suddenly he changed his mind and decided to travel to Quetta in one car, giving Sarosh* instructions for him to drive, etc. Later that day, Sarosh returned from Ahmednagar after consulting his father who was totally against his son going anywhere with Baba.
*Sarosh's family owned a car dealership in Ahmednagar and he was the manager.
RD p.334-5
May 1924 Historical Timeline :
27th : The English High Court granted an injunction to the investors of Harry Grindell Matthews, forbidding him from selling the rights to his "death ray" without their consent.
28th : The United States Border Patrol was created.
- The League of Nations demanded the secret of the "death ray" which British inventor Harry Grindell Matthews had claimed to have invented and which he had demonstrated on April 26.
- Max Wallraf was elected as the President of Germany's Reichstag, succeeding Paul Löbe.
29th : A munitions depot exploded two miles west of Bucharest. The city-shaking explosion caused many deaths and damaged the royal palace.
SAROSH K. IRANI SAROSH MOTORS
6. TRIP TO KARACHI & QUETTA
2ND VISIT : JUNE - JULY 1924
The plan took a twist, they now planned on leaving on the 2nd June 1924 by rail to Bombay and then to Quetta.
It was arranged for all the animals at Meherabad to be offered to Upasni Maharaj at Sakori.
Baba along with *Ardeshir ( Director of Agriculture), Ghani, Ramjoo and Vajifdar left for Ahmednagar Railway station in the morning and boarded the train to Bombay via Manmad, arriving at 12:30pm.
When they reached Deolali, the railway station after Nasik, they had to change carriages and through a series of mishaps with
luggage, tickets, changing train, some of the men inadvertently boarded the train to Bombay without Baba and Ramjoo.
Deolali was one several major British Army bases that provided treatment for battle wounds and training. This had been operational since the Boar War, and was well know throughout the service. Many servicemen, were accommodated here shortly after the WW2 to be deployed back to the country they had came from.
Baba and Ramjoo went to the nearby bazaar and hired a car to take them to the next railway stop of Lahit, some 4-5 miles / 6-8 kms away towards Igatpuri. Again, mishaps occurred, their hired driver eventually go lost and then Baba and Ramjoo decided to leave the car and walk across fields carrying their belongings to the nearby railway station.
When they arrived at Lahit, a tiny rural town, the Station Master was taken by Baba's appearance and of his connection to Sai Baba of Shirdi. Food and refreshments were provided by him, Baba insisted that the Station Master take RS.10/- that he offered as a gift. A nearby man came over and sang songs for over an hour for Baba and many others also came to listen.
Ramjoo placed a telephone call from the station to Igatpuri where the other men were waiting.
Later, Baba and Ramjoo boarded the next train, met the waiting men and proceeded to Bombay arriving in the morning of the 4th June.
They put up at the Irani Mansions No.6 at Dadar, Bombay.
RD p.337-340
* There are no known images of
Ardeshir
Deolali is 17 kms / 10 miles from Nasik to the East.
June 1924 Historical Timeline :
1st : The June Revolution began in Albania as an army of 6,000 nationalists marched on Tirana.
2nd : U.S. President Coolidge poses with Osage Indian representatives at signing of law granting U.S. citizenship to all American Indians. At the time, there were 300,000 Native Americans in the U.S.
4th : Born - Dennis Weaver, American TV and film actor ( d. 2006 )
DR. GHANI MUNSIFF RAMJOO JAFFER HORMUSJI VAJIFDAR ADI K.
IRANI
DEOLALI R.S. LAHIT R.S. IGATPURI R.S.
June continued...
Ghani was told by Baba to wait at his home in Lonavla and to come later.
On the 6th June, Adi had arrived in Bombay, joining the group and the following day ( 7th ) they departed for Quetta on the Gujarat Mail train to Delhi. In the evening they changed trains at Marwar Junction, detaching from the Delhi Mail train and attaching to the J.B. Railway train which proceeded to Hyderabad (Sind), crossing the Rajputana desert.
RD p.341
June continued...
Arriving 8th June in Hyderabad in the morning. Baba sent a telegram telling Rusi Irani saying that he and 3 others would be arriving in Quetta on the 9th and to keep their arrival very private.
They boarded the Quetta Mail train, arriving at Sibi Junction on the following morning. On arrival in Quetta at 5pm. Rusi pulled some strings with the police at Sibi to fast process Baba and his men through the security.
Rusi gave them lavish hospitality, which they needed.
The garden land that they seen on their previous trip was not available and it was too icy, so it was decided to go to Sukkur. Ramjoo and *Adeshir took the train to the town on the 11th June, with a letter of introduction to man called *Mobedji.
When they arrived, they settled into a traveller's shelter and they found a man who helped them by passing them onto many others who were very hospitable and sympathetic, however the land upon inspection was not suitable, especially in the hot summer. They inspected more land by the banks of the Indus River and at other locations. They continued on the next day - 12th, still inspecting more land.
They continued to the town of Rohri on the 13th June. The next day ( 14th ), they returned to Quetta. They soon discovered that Baba and a local man had already left for Sukkar the night before.
RD p.343-4
* There are no known images of Ardeshir or Mobedji.
June 1924 Historical Timeline :
8th.: British mountain climbers George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine, sought to become the first persons to climb to the top of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest.
9th : Ecuador became the first nation in South America to extend the right to vote to women.
10th : The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1922, making Iraq a self-governing British protectorate, was ratified by the Iraqi Constituent Assembly by a vote of 36 to 25, with the United Kingdom having control of Iraq's foreign affairs and Iraq handling its own domestic affairs.
12th : The largest train robbery in American history, based on adjusted value of the money taken, took place as the Newton Gang carried out the robbery of the express mail train, similar to $54.3 million in 2024,in Illinois
- Asphyxiation killed 44 crewmen aboard the USS Mississippi off San Pedro
Born : George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States (from 1989 to 1991)[49] was born at 173 Adams Street in Milton, Massachusetts (d. 2018).
13th : Gaston Doumergue was sworn in as the 13th President of France, succeeding Alexandre Millerand.
- U.S. Army Lieutenant John A. Macready At McCook, he also became the first airplane pilot to successfully bail out of a stricken aircraft at night.
SUKKUR RAILWAY STATION ROHRI RAILWAY STATION
June continued...
Meher Baba returned to Quetta on the 15th June, not pleased that the men weren't there to meet him Sukkur. Apparently, his reply to Ramjoo's message before he returned to Quetta had been misplaced by the station staff. Baba had purchased some land with the assistance of *Holaram and *Rustomji.
Baba had also visited the tomb of a renowned Muslim local saint - Bachal Shah.
That evening Baba and the party went for a motor spin around Quetta. Baba told Ramjoo to go back to Sukkur, to visit the saint's tomb and to look for a suitable house or them to stay in.
RD p.345
* There are no known images of Holaram & Rustomji.
June 1924 Historical Timeline :
15th : Édouard Herriot became Prime Minister of France.
Syed Bachal Shah Syed Bachal Shah Shrine, Sukkur, Pakistan
Hazrat Babajan
June continued...
On the 17th June, Ramjoo arrived in the morning, selected a bungalow and took a 6 month lease. He then went to the plot of land that Baba had bought where he encountered a lady who had similarities to Perfect Master Babajan in Poona. She was muttering inaudible words. When she asked him "Who is your Master ?", he replied Meher Baba. She then uttered "King Emperor" and began muttering again.
She had been devoted to Bachal Shah when he was alive. She had left her family and was addressed as Mastani Mai.
Ramjoo found the man that had been absorbed in Bachal Shah's tomb when Baba visited. Ramjoo gave him Rs5/- (5 rupees), which Baba had given him
prior.
Then another saintly person appeared who was known as Mustanshah. He began asking Ramjoo about his family and raised other matters related to his home town in Lonavla. Ramjoo was bewildered. The man said he had spent some time at Lonavla and told him many observations he had made.
In the afternoon, Ramjoo rowed in a boat with a local guide to Sat-Bela ( Sadhu-Bela ), visiting a Hindu place of worship. He met with the head of the institute there and gave him the present Baba had given him for this purpose. This institute fed scores of needy people.
Ramjoo left Sukkur for Quetta by the 10pm train.
June 1924 Historical Timeline :
17th : Voting was held in South Africa. The National Party of J. B. M. Hertzog gained 19 seats for 63 overall, five short of a majority.
20th : Born - Chester "Chet" Atkins, guitarist and record producer; in Luttrell, Tennessee (d. 2001)
23rd : U.S. Army First Lieutenant Russell Maughan successfully made the first dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight across the United States, landing at Crissy Field in San Francisco.A journey of 2,670 miles (4,300 km).
28th : A tornado killed 85 people in the U.S. state of Ohio, 72 of them in Lorain, Ohio.
This place in Sukkur was to be the Baba's new seat, but many preferred the temperate climate of Karachi. Loads of their trunks, containing their clothes, bedding, etc arrived and were stored in Sukkur. By the 30th June, most of the Mandali had arrived in Sukkur.
Khodadad Farhad ( Nervous ) developed a fever after an injury to his knee became infected. The injury occurred when Sufi, the horse, struck his knee. Even though he was getting medical care from a European surgeon, from the outset, he was declared to have typhoid. Baba spent considerable time with him. On the 16th July, Nervous passed away, when Baba arrived in Mach ( Machh ),
Funeral arrangements had been taken care of.
Mach township is between Quetta & Sibi on the same railway line. All the above towns mentioned are now part of Pakistan.
July 1924 Historical Timeline :
1st : Full time airmail service began in the U.S. with a fleet of airplanes transporting the mail day and night.
2nd : Inventor Guglielmo Marconi addressed the Royal Society of Arts in London describing his new beam system of short-wave wireless transmission. Marconi said this system could transmit more words per day between distant countries.
4th : The Caesar salad was created in Mexico by Italian-born restaurateur Caesar Cardini at his restaurant in Tijuana, Caesar's .
Born : Eva Marie Saint, American actress; in Newark, New Jersey
5th : The official opening ceremonies for the Summer Olympics were conducted at Colombes Stadium in Paris, France.
- Rebellion broke out in the Brazilian city of São Paulo as a group of lieutenants and other junior Brazilian Army officers. The revolt would last for 23 days, which 1,000 people were killed and another 4,000 injured.
6th : A presidential election was held in Mexico. Plutarco Elías Calles of the Partido Laborista Mexicano won the presidential election.
10th : Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi performed one of the greatest feats in Olympic history when he won the 1,500m race and the 5,000m race two hours apart. He also won the 10,000m race on the 12th.
14th : Born - Eva Marie Saint, American film and TV actress, 1954 Academy Award for On the Waterfront
16th : The first major nationwide news story in the U.S. about a tall, hairy "apeman" that walked upright, in the Pacific Northwest was published in The Oregonian, the largest circulation newspaper in Portland, Oregon. Later to be known as 'Bigfoot".
LEPER COLONY, MANGHAR-PIR, KARACHI
Baba arrived in Karachi on the 17th July. The following day 18th July, a large bungalow near the botanical garden & zoo, was arranged for him to stay in, along with the rest of the Mandali who would be arriving soon. Baba also inspected other plots of land in view for their permanent stay.
On the 19th July, Baba and the party went by car to Maghar-Pir ( Manghopir ) about 10 miles from Karachi.
This place had a shrine to a well-known saint and also several hot-water springs which many believed were waters with curing powers. Many lepers were present, hoping to be cured.
The rest of the group had arrived from Quetta including their luggage from Sukkur on the 20th July. Baba and the men mandali all agreed not to settle in Sukkur and so all prior transactions were cancelled and all affected parties were rewarded sufficiently.
RD p.346-351
July 1924 Historical Timeline :
17th : USS Barracuda, submarine "twice as large as any built previously for the United States Navy", was launched in New Hampshire.
18th : U.S. Vice Consul to Iran Robert Imbrie was beaten to death by an angry mob in Tehran after he photographed a gathering at a sacred watering place where a miracle was said to have taken place.
19th : The Napalpí massacre occurred in Argentina when 400 indigenous Toba people were killed by Argentine police and ranchers.
20th : Tehran was placed under martial law.
KARACHI GARDENS & ZOO
MEHER BABA BEHRAMJI H.IRANI "PADRI" DRIVER
GUSTADJI HANSOTIA BAILY IRANI
July continued... 1924
On the 21st July, Meher Baba departed by train for Bombay, and on the 25th July after he had arrived at the Irani Mansion it was decided that the large group that had been with Baba, should be dispersed and all should return to their respective homes.
Only about 6 men remained with Baba to keep him company for his future activities. The ladies were asked to stay at Sakori with Upasni Maharaj until they returned from their tours.
There were certain stipulations for the 4 men ( Beheramji, Gustadji, Baily & Padri ) who were to tour with Baba. They were to provide themselves with the necessary clothing, bedding, etc, but once on tour nothing new was allowed to be purchased. So they made their way to Poona, where this new stage was to come into effect. Padri was made manager for all the arrangements.
RD p. 351-2
July 1924 Historical Timeline :
21st : "The Pageant of Empire: An Historical Epic"' began at Empire Stadium in Wembley, London as the highlight of the British Empire Exhibition. Directed by Frank Lascelles, the pageant featured 15,000 people, 300 horses, 500 donkeys, 730 camels, 72 monkeys, 1,000 doves, seven elephants, three bears.
Born : Don Knotts, American comedian, TV and film actor best known for The Andy Griffith Show, for which he won five Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor; as Jesse Donald Knotts in Morgantown, West Virginia (d. 2006).
23rd : Twenty children were trampled to death and 17 injured as patrons fled a movie house in Veracruz, Mexico when the film caught fire.
- The first official flag of the U.S. state of Washington was unveiled at the office of the Washington Secretary of State at Olympia.
24th : Themistoklis Sofoulis took office as the new Prime Minister of Greece,
25th : Greece announced it was expelling 50,000 Armenians from the country.
26th : The Ku Klux Klan staged a huge rally in Issaquah, Washington, drawing at least 13,000 people.
27th : The closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics were conducted at Colombes Stadium in Paris.
28th : The revolt by Brazilian Army officers in São Paulo ended after the rebels quietly withdrew to Campinas.
- Ljubomir Davidović became Prime Minister of Yugoslavia after Nikola Pašić resigned.
29th : The practicality of airmail was demonstrated for the public when the U.S. Army air service carried a cargo of mail from Nashville, Tennessee to Chicago in 2 hours and 29 minutes.
Born : Robert Horton, American TV actor who was the star of Wagon Train after the death of Ward Bond; in Los Angeles (d. 2016).
31st : The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1924, requiring compulsory voting in Australian national elections, was given royal assent by George V in his capacity as King of Australia. The law, in effect 100 years later, provides for a requirement that enrolled voters explain their absence if they fail to vote, and a fine of up to A$170 if no adequate excuse is given. The Act was sponsored after fewer than 60% of voters cast ballots in the 1922 federal election; participation increased to 91% in 1925 election.
The year 1924 had Meher Baba engaged in a lot of activity. Due to the limitations of these web pages, it is not possible to include all of the activities for that year on one web page. The story continues on Chapter 7 ; 1924 Part B.
Click on the under-scored above words or the following 'button' to visit that web page.
MEHER BABA'S FIRST AARTI - BY MOHAN SHAHANE (1922-24) - VOICE MEERA AND NIKITA KALE
This is the earliest Aarti of Meher Baba. It was composed somewhere around 1922-24 by Moreshwer Gyaneshwer Shahane, popularly known as Mohan Shahane. His father Dyneshwar Ramchandra Shahane popularly known as Kaka Shahane and mother Manu Tai (Mrs. Kaka Shahane), became residents of Meherabad, in the early 1920s. This Aarti would be sung before Baba in Meherabad every evening by His early disciples or Mandali, and it was composed even before Meher Baba began His Silence, and before Baba wrote the Gujarati Aarti "Bujhawe Naar" in 1926.
Courtesy of Meher Trust
REFERENCE BOOKS
The reference books that were used on this webpage :
Lord Meher Vol.2 - Bhau
Kalchuri pages 588 - 633
Ramjoo's Diary - Ramjoo
Abdulla pages 275 - 352
The Perfect Master - Charles B. Purdom pages 67
- 72
The God-Man - Charles B.
Purdom pages 46 - 49