We have heard from the women mandali that they led very cloistered lives with Baba. When living at Meherabad and Meherazad, for example, they would go into Ahmednagar only for doctors’ and dental appointments. There were two exceptions: After Baba dropped His Body and Mani became Chairman of the Trust, she would go to the Trust Office during the week. And Dr. Goher would go to the bazaar once a week to buy supplies needed in Meherazad.  

 Baba traveling from Poona to Ahmednagar in 1967. Meheru is in the front seat.
(Photo courtesy of MN Publications)

Except for Dr. Goher, the women never went out by themselves. Sometimes I would be appointed to accompany them, perhaps because when I first came to live at Meherabad, I had managed Meher Health Centre in Arangaon and bought the medicines needed there. That somehow qualified me for this privilege.

Just how secluded their lives had been was brought home to me very clearly one day when I accompanied Meheru to the bazaar for a dental appointment. One incident in particular stays in my mind. Meheru bought some little thing from a vendor’s cart and insisted on paying for it herself with rupees from her purse. When she opened the purse, it was obvious that she didn’t have a clue what any of the notes or coins were worth. So we stood there in front of the vendor, while she checked very carefully the value of every note and coin until she had the right amount to give to the surprised vendor.

And another indication of her worldly innocence was crossing roads with Meheru. If she needed to go to Poona for doctors, dentists and so on, another woman and I would usually go with her. In the early years there was very little traffic on the roads, but later on the traffic became very dense. However, regardless of the traffic, Meheru would take our arms and, always without looking, head across the road. This was a terrifying experience, but one that we amazingly all survived.

By Baba’s Grace, Meheru lived into her 80s. Of course it was Baba who held back the traffic and watched over her as she bravely shared His Love around the world with His most fortunate lovers.

—Janet Judson for Avatar Meher Baba Trust, 20 August 2015

Meheru (in green blouse) arriving at the Samadhi.
Janet is on the left, 2005.