Moments with Mehera, Part 1
One summer in the 1980s, sections of the road from ‘Nagar to Poona were under major reconstruction, making road travel extremely unpleasant. Mehera, Mani, Goher and Meheru’s much needed summer vacation was just a month away and I couldn’t bear to think of them having to bounce and jostle their way to Poona over broken gravelly roads.
I said to Mehera, “You know, I’ve just been to Poona and the roads are very bad. I hope by the time you leave for your vacation the work will be finished and your drive will be smooth.”
Mehera replied, “I doubt it very much, dearie. It takes a long time and lots of workers to make good roads in India.” A bit subdued I continued, “Well maybe BABA will send someone to get the work done quickly so your trip to Poona won’t be so uncomfortable.” With that Mehera tenderly pointed up to the sky, smiled and said, “Oh no. He’s not like that. Baba’s not like that. He’s just up there with a pencil and paper, writing down the things that we do for Him.”
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Mehera, seated on the Main Bungalow Verandah, Meherazad, where she would relive |
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In the early years Baba did not allow Mehera to read. Later He relaxed the order and she read in moderation. In Meherazad one day she was holding a small book she’d recently started, saying, “You know, I don’t really like this book very much.” I naively said, “Mehera, if you don’t like it maybe you could put it down and not finish the whole thing.” Her reply was most unexpected. ”Well you know, dear, sometimes we just have to go through things.”
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In the Foreword to the book Mehera, Mani writes about the 20 years which Mehera lived without Baba after He dropped His Physical Body. “Along with our pain of separation, Baba’s presence grows stronger with time. It is natural that His presence should be particularly with Mehera, whose heart He has made so pure as to perfectly reflect Him.”
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Mehera in Beloved Baba’s Bedroom, early 1980’s. |
Truly, it was Baba’s presence in Mehera that drew so many toward her as she bravely shared Baba’s Love for those 20 years in Meherazad and Meherabad. She greeted and loved and trained and shaped us all for her Beloved’s sake. And in the joy of her presence, of Baba’s presence, we saw what we thought to be a lessening of her grief. But one morning in early 1989 I walked into the serenely quiet Main Bungalow in Meherazad and found Mehera sitting alone on Goher’s bed, facing away from Baba’s room with tears in her eyes. Her grief was absolutely overwhelming. Unsure what to do, I went closer to her and whispered, “What is it Mehera?” She motioned behind her right shoulder towards the door to Baba’s room and said, “I know Baba’s in the next room. I know He’s there. But I know if I turn around and look, I won’t be able to see Him.”
How could she possibly go on like this? It was hardly three months later that Beloved Baba took Mehera back unto Himself. How He must have looked to her then!
—Kacy Cook for Avatar Meher Baba Trust, 5 February 2015
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Recent photo of the door to Baba’s Room, (Goher’s bed in the foreground). |