thronged with eager, questing souls; and to watch Baba giving interviews, and walking among His lovers showering His love on all was an incredible and illuminating experience.

Writing this later brings back as clearly and vividly as ever the love I then felt. I knew nothing could sunder that deep inner contact forged from the first moment of our meeting.

Although Baba was with us, Meredith still insisted on the meditation hours being kept as usual, but Baba had told our little group we need not meditate and during this period He sat with us. On one occasion He picked up a book from the bookshelf behind Him and showed it to us, pointing to the title which was "All Quiet on the Western Front," then as we were about to laugh, He put a finger to His lips, but there was a twinkle in His eyes.

On these and subsequent visits Baba went to Kew Gardens, Richmond, the zoo, museums and theatres (it was at a performance of "White Horse Inn" at the Coliseum that I first met Baba). He visited many cinemas, being particularly fond of Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and Fatty Arbuckle.

There were also of course, business meetings and press interviews. One newsreel made by Paramount in which Baba is seen in the garden of the Davy house giving His first Message to the West, read by Charles Purdom, is of special value, for it has sound and shows Baba as He looked in 1931.*

During these periods He gave personal interviews, and liked to drive and walk among the crowds, and even to go up and down the moving stairs in Piccadilly Circus, so perhaps it is not altogether strange that our first Centre in England should have been Wardour Street, and has now moved to Eccleston Square, so close to where He stayed twice in 1952 and 1956 at the Rubens Hotel. He went to visit my mother at her hotel, the Star and Garter, Richmond, and stood alone on the balcony gazing at the river. He doubtless saw the little colony of young Baba lovers who would be living around here in the late sixties.

An office was soon established, and the Circle Editorial Committee formed which did much work in editing and publishing books such as "Questions and Answers" and "Sayings". Our office was in Charing Cross under the direction of Will Backett, and there many more people came to hear about Baba. Among them was William Donkin, who, after getting his M.D., went to India to become a devoted lover and close mandali, and to write that remarkable book 'The Wayfarers,' which tells the story of the Masts and Baba's work with them. On one occasion Baba spent a whole long Saturday afternoon at the office interviewing people.

Here too came Fred Marks, another who became a dear and devoted disciple, and was present at the special men's gathering in India in 1954.

Some of the first impressions of these early disciples will be of interest to all Baba lovers. Will Backett wrote . . . "Many first impressions lose their keenness as time passes, but my meeting with Baba stands out clearer in my consciousness as my subsequent experiences enable me to appreciate more completely the significance of such a contact with Him. Looking back, I can see Baba seated quietly on a settee and that it might appear to the casual observer that He lacked energy. Yet there was something compelling in His posture, for the picture stands out like a cameo in my mind, pure and untrammeled by the world, completely poised like a bird arrested momentarily in flight, in a world that reflects not the like anywhere."

Mary Backett was equally overcome. "We first met Baba at Kitty Davy's home, Kensington, 1932. He was seated in a small room at the top of the house surrounded by some close devotees. They did not hear me enter but Baba sprang up with agility, power and grace that characterize all His movements and came quickly forward. He then signed me to sit by Him and took my hand with the gentle touch we know so well. Immediately I felt a great upliftment of consciousness, such as I had never experienced with anyone before . . . He gave me more, far more in the space of three minutes than I

*The movie made by British Paramount Newsreel was on April 8, 1932. webmaster- JK