Lovely in Pink

In December 1924, after a period of seclusion at Meherabad, thirty-year-old Meher Baba, along with several companions, moved to Bombay for two months. Among those who had the good fortune to accompany Baba were seventeen-year-old Mehera Irani and her mother, Daulatmai. The morning of departure was chilly, and Baba told everyone to be sure to bring something warm. Baba spotted and picked up the salmon-pink sweater coat atop Mehera’s belongings. He wanted to know whose it was and if it was warm. Daulatmai had knitted this beautiful wool coat for her daughter. It had two white stripes near the hem of the garment.
Meher Baba then took off the dear kamli coat that He wore constantly between 1921 and 1927 (In 1955, Baba referred to his kamli coat as the most sacred of his possessions)[I] and put on the pink sweater coat. Mehera-Meher describes the moment as follows:

He then asked Mehera, “How do I look in this?”

“Baba, it looks wonderful,” Mehera said. “You look lovely in pink.”

“Yes,” he said, “I like it.” He wore the coat for a few moments, then took it off, handed it to Mehera, and again put on his kamli coat. He told Daulatmai, “I have worn it, and you are fortunate to have knitted it.”

Mehera was thrilled. She had never used the coat before, so, really speaking, Baba wore it first. “This was the first pink coat Baba ever wore,” she recalled proudly.

“Baba looked so sweet in the dark-pink tailored women’s coat, with his open brown hair. He looked so handsome. It was slightly large for me, so it fit Baba even more perfectly. It was good that Mother had made it a bit big.”[II]

Mehera was not the only one who thought that Baba looked wonderful in pink. Those who encountered Him when He was wearing His pink jacket and white sadra described Him looking radiant, resplendent, and magnificent. Filis Frederick, while at Meher Center in 1956, took delight in washing Baba’s clothes; she wrote: “As I washed the pink, silk handmade jacket and the white, batiste sadra and hung them out on the line under the trees, they seemed to radiate pure love and light. I had the feeling the clothes were really cleansing me! We stayed up late that night to have them dry and freshly ironed for Baba in the morning.”[III] During Baba’s visit to New York City that same year, Darwin and Jeanne Shaw were walking back to their hotel with a packet of laundry to wash that contained Baba’s pink jacket and white sadra. Darwin wrote, “… and as we walked along, I felt as though Baba himself were embracing me with his love. It was amazing! The clothes were so permeated with Baba’s love that they seemed to be loving me—or anyone else who might hold them.” [IV] On Silence Day, 1960, Mani recounted this amusing story in her family letter: “A devotee (who is also a tailor) came to one of the darshans, and very much wanted to make for Him a pink coat, which he did, and sent to Baba. Baba tried it on and found it was much too big to say the least—the sleeves were down to His finger-tips, shoulders halfway to the elbows, and the back draping like a cape. Baba came out to show it to the mandali, with a delighted smile and a ‘I can’t believe it’ look in His twinkling God-eyes. Later I told Francis that perhaps it was as the tailor really saw Baba—for, I had heard of a number of people who at first sight had the impression that Baba is much bigger than He is. I meant of course in physique. However, Francis quipped, ‘But that’s exactly it, Baba IS much bigger than He is!”[V]

Actually, Baba looked wonderful in whatever color He wore. Bal Natu wrote of Baba in yellow, “As far as I remember, Baba had on a yellowish silken coat. It was so becoming to Him that I personally felt it matched His golden complexion more than did the pink coat which He later wore during darshan tours.”

In 1956 while in Sydney, Australia, Baba put on the sky blue jacket that Tex Hightower had made for Him while in California: “Robert Rouse recalled that Baba came out wearing this and twirled around, asking his approval, ‘How do I look?’ Robert was very touched by this and nodded, ‘You look wonderful Baba.’”[VI]

During darshan hours at Guruprasad in April 1960, Baba wore a pink coat every day. Some lovers wanted to see Him in another color and with a smile, Baba replied: “If I started changing the color of my coat and clothes at the suggestion of my lovers, could you imagine what a variety of colors would be introduced in my wardrobe? I am the slave of your love, not of your whims!” [VII]

 

[I] Three Incredible Weeks With Meher Baba, by Malcolm Schloss and Charles Purdom, p. 158
[II] Mehera-Meher, by David Fenster, p.152
[III] Lord Meher, Online Edition, by Bhau Kalchuri, p. 4018
[IV] As Only God Can Love, by Darwin Shaw, p. 323
[V] 82 Family Letters – To the Western Family of Lovers and Followers of Meher Baba, Mani Irani, p. 78
[VI] Glimpses of the God Man, Vol. 1, Part 2, by Bal Natu, p. 245
[VI] Lord Meher, Online Edition, by Bhau Kalchuri, p. 4110
[VII] Lord Meher, Online Edition, by Bhau Kalchuri, p.4656