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The story of Meher Baba’s arrival in Meherabad is legendary. It is bursting at the seams with the impending scope of the Avatar’s ministry—a pivot point for many seeds that the Master would sow and links that He would create. One such connection was His link with the Satha and Jessawala families.
In Ahmednagar, there was a cotton-pressing mill called Akbar Press. On the property lived a Parsi family named Satha. Two of the Satha brothers first encountered Meher Baba while walking in the countryside of Ahmednagar. This was soon after Baba had arrived in what would become Meherabad. They saw a group of men sitting around a lean man wearing a white sadra. As they wondered who He was, He summoned them. In the conversation, Baba asked them how many were in the family and they replied that they were five brothers and four sisters. “No,” Baba said “…I am your sixth brother.”[1] When the brothers went home, they informed their sister Gaimai that they had met a person whom they felt was like Zoraster. Impressed by the account, Gaimai went to see Meher Baba that summer with her family which included her first born, Eruch. Thus, the seed for Baba’s contact with His right-hand man, His best friend, and the interpreter of His gestures, began way back when Baba was still talking and Eruch was but a child of seven.
From then on, Gaimai frequently visited Meherabad. On one of those early visits, Baba asked Gaimai about what Eruch was studying. When she told Him, Baba said, “Why do you want him to study further? Give him to me!” Without hesitating, Gaimai said, "Take him, Baba; he is yours!" Taken aback by this, Papa Jessawala (Eruch’s father) pleaded with Baba, "How can we give Eruch to you? He is our only son!" Baba only smiled in reply, later indicating to Gaimai, "Eruch is my son; I will give you another."[2] At the time, Gaimai was pregnant with Meherwan, another soul destined to be a close follower of Baba.
Eruch’s first memory of Baba was when He was nine years old. Eruch had jumped down from a Victoria horse carriage while approaching Meherabad when he slipped and fell, grazing his elbow, which began bleeding. “Baba applied ash from the dhuni to his elbow and wrapped it with his own handkerchief. He patted Eruch on the head, kissed him, and held him in his lap, his tender kindness capturing Eruch's heart forever.”[3] In his yet to be published biography, Eruch says, “I fell for Him when I was nine years old, and my impression of Him was that He was really a very kind and loving person.”[4]
Laying the ground for Eruch’s upcoming role, Baba visited Nagpur in 1930 when Eruch was a teenager of fourteen. Baba stayed with the Jessawalas at Mary Lodge—their luxurious family home. The Master showed a special interest in Eruch, asking of his whereabouts and waiting for him to return from school so they could play games together. Being a teenager, Eruch found this irksome. He tried to hide from Baba. One day when he saw Baba standing at the gate waiting for him, he went in through the back door. Eruch did not want to spend his free time with Baba, preferring instead to be with his schoolmates at football matches. His mother reprimanded him for his behavior. "This is not good. You don't realize how blessed you are. Baba was waiting a long time for you. He is Zoroaster!" she exclaimed. "He is our Prophet returned! Do you not know that?"
“Although religious by nature, Eruch was skeptical of what his mother said and remained unimpressed by his mother's words. Eruch had more of an interest in Jesus, having attended a Roman Catholic school in Nagpur. He did not yet realize that all Avatars are one and the same. Eruch thought to himself: ‘How much better it would have been if I had been born at the time of Jesus. I would love to have been by his side. Will that day ever come for me?'"[5]
And that day came. Eruch had no idea at the time that he was hand-picked by the living Christ. In the summer of 1938, Baba sent a telegram for Eruch to come immediately to Panchgani (where Baba was staying at the time). When Eruch arrived, Baba sent away the men mandali and pointed at His alphabet board. Eruch had learned to read the board as a boy in Nagpur. Baba said, “The world and its affairs are all illusory. Only God is real…” then suddenly Baba asked, “If I were to ask you to leave everything behind and come and stay with Me, is it possible for you to do that?” Eruch replied, “By your grace, everything is possible.”[6]
Eruch recalled later that he did not know why he said what he said. The words just came out of his mouth. Baba went on to ask Eruch’s whole family to join Him. Eruch was tasked by his father to dispose of their lavish home and, under Baba’s instruction, they arrived at Meherabad on the appointed date: August 1, 1938. Baba instructed them to leave all and “bring only a trunk, sleeping bags for each, and bring the car.”[7]
About being beckoned by Baba, Eruch said, “I was like a nice blooming flower on a tree. He plucked me from the tree, and He enjoyed the fragrance. I didn’t come to Baba, I was summoned.”[8]
On Eruch’s birth anniversary this month, I imagined him, the eldest son, driving out of the gardens, aviaries, and fountains of his majestic old home with his entire family. He was leaving everything behind to embrace his unimaginable destiny, as he drove into the garden of his Beloved’s love and most intimate company. Happy Birthday, Eruch!
1 The Divine Humanity of Meher Baba, by Bill Le Page, p. 2
2 Lord Meher, Online Edition, by Bhau Kalchuri, p.1199
3 Lord Meher, Online Edition, by Bhau Kalchuri, p. 632
4 Glow Magazine, Spring 2023 Edition, p.16
5 Lord Meher, Online Edition, by Bhau Kalchuri, p.1197
6 Over the Years with Meher Baba, by Bill Le Page, p.19
7 Ibid
8 Glow Magazine, Spring 2023 Edition, p.16
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