6691   DARSHAN OF HIS SUFFERING

on the veranda than originally scheduled. In his room, Baba sent for Meherjee, who shed tears at seeing Baba looking so frail and weak.

On the morning of December 23rd, Dara and Amrit were married in a civil ceremony in Ahmednagar at Sarosh's home, Viloo Villa, and they then came to Meherazad to receive Baba's blessings, as did the same two hundred guests who had come the previous day. Before the functions started, Baba called his Poona workers – Sadashiv Patel, Soman and Kamble – to his room. Sadashiv burst out weeping, seeing Baba in such poor health. Baba assured him, "I will be all right very soon and give darshan to my lovers."

Despite his serious condition, Baba cheered everyone up by joking and pretending that his physical infirmity was nothing. Still, the lovers could see his condition for themselves and had what they called "the darshan of his suffering."

Baba was wheeled onto the veranda and blessed Amrit and Dara. Sarosh's little granddaughter, Homai, gave a dance performance. They brought a tape recorder with music to accompany the dance, but it did not work, so Sarosh's daughter Gulnar had to clap out the beat.

Then something amusing happened. For several days now Kaka Baria had begun performing a "unique" kirtan. He would clap his hands together and repeat, "Ho, ho, ho!" which would send the mandali and Baba into fits of laughter. Kaka walked onto the veranda and began his kirtan, and Kumar and Elcha Mistry joined him, which those present heartily enjoyed.

Baba's twin nephews, Rustom and Sohrab, sang some humorous songs with one of their friends, which made Baba laugh. One was "There's A Hole In The Bucket." In the past, both boys had been quite stout, and Baba had advised them to lose weight. This time they were much thinner, which pleased Baba.

The large group of lovers again came forward for darshan. Before retiring to his room, Baba remarked, "How lucky you all are to have my darshan today", and he gestured, "My Time has come."

A buffet lunch was again served.

At one point, Baba called Bapai and Meher Desai of Bombay to his room. Meher had become a doctor according to Baba's wish and she wanted to stay in Meherazad permanently in