MEHER  BABA'S

1924 : BRITISH INDIA

Deolali to Lahit  - Car & Walking Trip

June 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