THE GOD-MAN The Life, Journeys and Work of Meher Baba with an ...

18 THE GOD-MANremembering almost everything he read. He had also the ordinary tastes of a boy for 'bloods': at theage of fifteen he wrote a story for his favourite, the London Union Jack, which was accepted andprinted. His mind was not attracted to science, nor to mathematics, nor to history. The poet to whomhe gave his heart was Khwaja Shams al-Din Muhammad, known as Hafiz, one of the greatest lyricpoets of Persia, a Perfect Master of his time. Meher was not spiritually advanced when he read Hafiz,but was much enraptured by him. Under that influence Meher wrote poems himself in Gujarati,Urdu, Hindustani, and Persian, published under the nom de plume of 'Homa' in Sanj Vartman, one ofthe popular Gujarati newspapers of Bombay. He also wrote poems in English. He delighted in musicand loved to sing. He was an eager conversationalist.It seems that he had the sense of leadership. In quarrels he was called upon to settle the dispute,and other boys came to him for advice as a matter of course.FIRST SPIRITUAL MASTERSo far as I can discover, Meher had shown no particular aptitude or ambition at college. He washigh-spirited, eager and friendly, and passed his examinations with credit. But his studies wereinterrupted and the course of his life changed. One morning in the month of May 1913, when ridingon a bicycle down Rao Saheb Kedari Road, he looked up and saw an old woman sitting under aneem tree. His eyes met hers, and she beckoned to him. He knew who the woman was, for she was awell-known character in the city, but he had had no thought of meeting her that day. He left hisbicycle and went over to her; she arose and embraced him. Not a word was said. He remained sittingwith her for a quarter of an hour, and then left her. That was the first meeting between Meher andHazrat Babajan.This remarkable woman was said to be at that time one hundred and twenty-two years old, buther actual date of birth is not known; it is supposed to have been about 1790, in that land ofmountains, deserts, and stony plains, Baluchistan, to the west of India. She was a Muslim, and issaid to have devoted herself to prayer and meditation from girl-hood. Little or nothing is knownabout the greater part of her life. It is said that when her parents would have forced her to marry sheran away on her wedding-day. After years in search of God she found a Master, who many yearsafterwards (at the age of sixty-five, it is said) made her perfect. Then she lived in the Punjab for along period. It is certain that she was seen in Bombay in 1900, where she stayed for some