“A Gift of Pearls from His Ocean”

On the western end of the city of Bombay lies a quieter beach known as Marve. Many may not have heard of this beach. Many may also not know its curious link with Meher Center and Baba’s first visit to His home in the West in 1952. Like many links with Baba, this link may appear to be small, a consequence of happenstance, but not in the chord that it struck in tender hearts of the lovers of God. This is the story of a memorable act of love and generosity performed by Baba’s sister Mani. This is also the parallel story of where it all started in the hands of the Avatar.

Before coming to Meher Center to inaugurate it in 1952, Baba had just come out of the New Life. His health had suffered on many levels and the Mandali were very worried about Him. Baba’s travel depended upon His health. In a letter to Adi Sr., Padri wrote, “God help Baba and the West!”[i] Baba and the women Mandali arrived in Bombay on Sunday, April 6. They were scheduled to depart for America on April 18.

Their stay started at Ashiana, the apartment home of Arnavaz and Nariman Dadachanji. It was summer, uncomfortably hot and humid in Bombay, and Baba was restless, shut up in an apartment all day. He was not in a good mood, either.[ii] The neighbors were noisy, and no one could sleep. To make Baba more comfortable, the party moved to the suburb of Bandra, but rest still evaded Baba. At last, they moved thirty-five miles away, by sea, to Marve beach where they stayed at a cottage. Baba liked the place very much. It was quiet, and He and the women took long walks on the beach. The local residents were fishermen, and Baba would watch them in their fishing boats and was quite happy with the idyllic surroundings.[iii]

In the summer of 1995, a pilgrim carried a special gift from Mani for each of the Youth Sahavas participants: 110 individually wrapped boxes that held seashells touched by beloved Baba. In a letter to all the participants, Mani wrote, “This happened recently when I came across the dazzling assortment of little shells we had collected from [Marve] beach and brought home with us. What reminders could be more special than these bright little witnesses to that happy carefree time by the seaside with our Beloved. Just picture us wandering barefoot along the shore, hunting for shells, excited at every new find, rushing to show them to each other. Baba beamed at His own finds and admired Mehera’s and ours as we poured them into His beautiful hands.”

One can also vividly picture Mani’s effervescent excitement at finding these treasures in Meherazad. She must have jumped with joy! And then, her eyes must have twinkled with an idea. Her heart must have thumped with a desire pure as her love: to share these pearls from His ocean with His young ones. Her faculties must have taken command from her thoughtfulness, and she must have meticulously started coordinating the wrapping and transportation of each shell.

Mani did not miss the symbolism of the connection between these two profound events, separated only by time. She thought each sahavasee worthy of being a safekeeper for such a precious gift. But Baba made her gift just a little more special. Every year since the start of the Sahavas in 1991, Mani had sent a gift. Whether they were special letters she wrote to the sahavasees, or songs, or bookmarks made with flowers from Mehera’s garden, she never forgot the yearly event. The shells were to be the last gift that Mani would send for the sahavasees before her reunion with her Big brother in 1996.

One sahavasee who received the gift of the shell is Laura Smith. She was a counselor in 1995. Laura remembers the final gathering at the Barn where hearts were already full of love, but her cup overflowed. “Mani’s letter to us was read at the Barn. Then, each one of us bowed down to Baba’s chair and picked a box especially wrapped for us by our Meherazad family. Little did I know this would be Mani’s last year, and yet to receive this gift was so powerful. I still have the shell and will always hold it dear to my heart: a personal gift to me from Baba.”

[i] Mehera Meher, by David Fenster, Vol. 3, p. 12
[ii] Ibid
[iii] Lord Meher, by Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 11, p. 3774