In God’s Presence
The story of Beloved Archives is the story of a family’s love for Meher Baba, whom they spontaneously and wholeheartedly recognized as the Avatar of this age.
Naosherwan Anzar
I am two months old. Meher Baba sends a message to my father, Keki Nalavala that He plans to come to Dehra Dun on October 18, after completing His work with masts in Bharatpur. My mother, Freiny, who had never seen Meher Baba and yearned to be in His presence, is asked to prepare dal (lentils) and rice. She sends word to Beloved Baba inviting Him and His mandali to our home, 36 Lytton Road, which later became the headquarters of the New Life.
He accepts her invitation. As soon as He enters our home, He picks me up from my cradle and places me on His lap. He then carries me from room to room, caressing and kissing me. My mother, who is seeing Baba for the first time, is deeply moved by the love and care Baba showers on her baby. He, along with four of His disciples have lunch, and later spends some time with my five-year-old sister, Maharoakh.
A day before His departure from Dehra Dun on November 30, He again has a lunch of dal and rice at my home. And again, He picks me up and walks around, and my mother whispers to her heart “Naosherwan is Baba’s and he will love and serve Him always.”
Baba used this teapot at our home on Lytton Road.
The Avatar leads His New Life caravan to Dehra Dun. My father, Keki, on occasion, takes food to Baba and gives it to Him as bhiksha (alms).
One morning, I am awakened early to travel in a horse-drawn carriage with my parents and sister to offer bhiksha to Baba and His companions. They are all wearing white robes and green turbans. I stand entranced, witnessing the beauty and glory of the Avatar. His majesty leaves an indelible stamp on my four-year old consciousness. My mother whispers, “He is truly God in human form.”
Later that year, Meher Baba, with the women New Life companions, returns to stay opposite our house. I have full freedom to walk in and out, spend time with Baba, and chat with Mani and Mehera.
Meher Baba in Dehra Dun with Keki, Freiny, and Naosherwan, 1950 and 1953
We welcome Beloved Baba to Dehra Dun for a year. On September 7, Meher Baba gives the iconic discourse, “Highest of the High.” On this same day, He invites my family to visit Him. It is Zoroaster’s birthday. Baba stands on a vermillion pattern as Mehera celebrates Zoroaster’s birthday by applying vermillion to His forehead, a celebratory ritual.
As Meher Baba steps aside, I ask, “And why is my birthday not being celebrated?” Mehera says, “Why not?” and applies vermillion on my forehead. On that day we play a few games with the Beloved.
At times during this year, Meher Baba asks me to entertain Him and He offers me a gift each time I recite a poem or play drums on the table while my sister sings a song. His gifts include a mechanical tortoise, a Donald Duck stuffed animal, a kaleidoscope, a black doll and other small presents I still treasure as I see them displayed at the Meher Baba Museum in Beloved Archives.
February 18, 1953, soon after his 1952 visit to America, Meher Baba traveled to Dehra Dun. On September 7, Zoroaster's birthday and the day He delivered His “Highest of the High" message, He invited me and my sister Maharoakh for lunch at His home at 101 Rajpur Road. We entertained Him with songs and Baba presented us with several gifts He brought back from America.
With these experiences I become more and more intimate with the Beloved, and begin seeing Him as my Father, Mother, Friend, and God.
Meher Baba and Freiny Nalavala
My mother was the first archivist. This teacup and saucer were used by Beloved Baba when He visited our home at 36 Lytton Road. Whenever Meher Baba had a meal or drank tea with us, she would put the plate or cup away for posterity.
When the Avatar awakens you, He makes you His companion and walks with you on a spiritual journey, accompanying you wherever your sanskaras are destined to take you. After He leaves Dehra Dun in November, however, I find myself unable to carry on my life without Him and experience a spiritually tormented passage of boyhood. I could not bear the pangs of separation. I longed to be with Him as one of His Circle of companions and I resolved to renounce everything I held materially dear.
I wrote to Him that I had decided to journey to Meherazad. He cabled, “Renounce nothing but your present attitude.” In my naivety I defied Him, and He replied firmly, “For spiritual aspirants, renunciation is of help, but those who love the Avatar and are under His direct guidance do not have to ‘renounce’ anything. The lovers of the Avatar have simply to obey the Avatar’s instructions and to love Him wholeheartedly.” He added in another letter, “The world will know who I am when I break My Silence and then you too will realize My infinite love for you and My lovers.”
I continued to write that I longed to be with Him and would travel to Meherazad uninvited. It was then that He sent a firm order, admonishing me, “To obey the God-Man is the highest form of worship to God in human form. Obey Me implicitly if one day you want to know Me as I am.”
I resigned and surrendered to His will.
The East West Gathering, Pune
Meher Baba characterized His East-West Gathering as the most important meeting of His incarnation.
Naosherwan
I arrive in Poona (now known as Pune) at the invitation of Avatar Meher Baba.
I am once again at the gate of His residence in Pune, having recently addressed an audience of over a hundred thousand people at the Third World Religions conference in New Delhi.
I reminisce that a few months back, I was welcomed as the youngest delegate to a spiritual conference teeming with saints, sages, philosophers, mystics, and seekers.
I had sent the organizers, Muni Sushil Kumar, leader of the Jains; Sant Kirpal Singh, venerated as a spiritual master; and Baron Frary von Blomberg, Secretary of the conference, a lengthy title to shroud the fact that I was a teenager at an adult spiritual conference. My subject was “The Supervening Powers of Faith in the Evolution of World Peace.”
On the morning I was to deliver my speech, I was nervous, and had over-prepared, working tirelessly to memorize my first presentation in front of a sizeable audience. I felt reassured when Meher Baba cabled me: “I am with you at the Third World Religions Conference.” It was an affirmation from the Avatar Himself.
And then came the moment when my name was called. With quiet composure, I stood before a sea of faces. As I held the microphone and introduced the subject of world peace, quoting the Avatars of the past, I mentioned Avatar Meher Baba’s message, declaring Him the “Prince of Peace.”
All hell broke loose. A few audience members physically attacked me, asking me to get off the stage. Emboldened, and with Meher Baba’s message still ringing in my ears, I stood my ground and completed my remarks as Sant Kirpal Singh admonished the angry protestors. I experienced a timeless moment.
From that day onward, I shed my inhibitions and, with His grace, fearlessly share Meher Baba’s teachings of Love, Truth, and Spiritual Unity with audiences all over the world.
Naosherwan
Third World Religious Conference New Delhi, 1965
Soon after the conference, I receive a letter from Meher Baba inviting me to Guruprasad to recount my experiences. Even though the temperature is teetering between 98 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and I am sweating profusely, I eagerly anticipate my meeting with the Beloved One and feel a sense of joy and exhilaration.
I walk the long driveway to His residence, remove my sandals, and open the door to a small room where Baba and His mandali gather each day.
My eyes and thoughts are fixed on Meher Baba, seated in the sweltering heat on a large chair, bare-bodied from the waist up and wearing a pair of white cotton pajama bottoms. I rush into His arms, kiss Him on both cheeks, and bow down at His feet. I sit on the floor at arm’s length from Him.
Baba asks if I had slept well the previous night, and I tell Him truthfully that I did not, in anticipation of meeting Him. I look around the room to see members of Meher Baba’s mandali seated against the walls. His chief male disciple, Eruch, who was standing alongside Him, tells me, “Baba would like a detailed account of your participation at the Third World Religions Conference.”
With great fervor I begin my narration, but a few sentences into it, Meher Baba interrupts me to ask, “Do you love Me?” “Yes, Baba.” He then asks me to continue my narration. As I come close to completing the chronicle of my experiences, including the incident of being assaulted on the stage, Baba interrupts me again, looks me straight in the eye, and asks, “Do you accept Me as God in human form?” Without a moment’s hesitation, I reply, “Absolutely, Baba.”
Baba gently claps His hands. Dr. Goher enters from a side door with a small box in her cupped hands and gives it to Him. He stretches out His hand, and I simultaneously reach out mine, and we clasp hands. He opens the box and hands me a medallion with a bas relief of His face on one side and symbols of all the religions on the other, and says solemnly,
“I want you to tell the world I am God in human form.”
I feel overwhelmed. His words do not immediately sink in, but when they do, I wonder how I could possibly fulfill this enormous responsibility Meher Baba has just given me, but I know He would never ask anyone to undertake an assignment of such magnitude without giving them the wherewithal to fulfill it.
Just before I am about to leave the room, Baba asks me if I was able to answer questions that the delegates asked at the conference.
“Yes, Baba, there was a question that was repeatedly asked of me: ‘How can Meher Baba say that He is God in human form?’”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Baba replies, “You, Naosherwan, are God in human form. Each one of My disciples here are God in human form. But you are unconscious of your Divinity. I am conscious of My Divinity and can declare My Godhood. But how do I make you conscious of your Divinity?”
“I give you the gift of conviction.”
“I want you to tell the world I am God in human form.”
Meher Baba and I clasp hands. He opens the box and hands me this medallion with His face on one side and symbols of all the religions on the other.
He says solemnly,
