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1

BABA'S FIRST WORLD TOUR, 1932

By Kitty Davy

 

I continue from my diary from where I broke off in December of 1931 — in my last article in The Awakener:   Volume 11 Number 2 Page 43

 

 

We had said goodbye to Baba in Paris and he was on his way back to India, having spent four months in Europe, England and America. We were sad at parting, but believed his return would be soon, possibly February, and that he might speak then.

 

In those early days, Baba was always so wonderful in the care he took to keep us informed during his absence with letters (almost weekly) and far more frequently with cables. Thus, the first communication we had was a cable from the boat S.S. "Rajputana", saying how sad he felt at the parting and how he missed us all — but that we must be cheerful. Then front Port Said came a letter to say that he and the boys spent much of their time in the cabin playing the gramophone records that we all liked and which moved us so much — Negro spirituals sung by Paul Robeson — and how Baba did an almost rare thing: so sad did he feel that he just wept as a child with the boys at having left us children (as we really were then) behind, lambs without a shepherd. How Baba loved that spiritual, "Feed My Sheep", later addressed so frequently to his close ones, Will and Mary Backett.

 

We returned to London and the Christmas festivities helped to keep us cheerful. It then occurred to some of us how nice it would be if, in return for the few days' invitation Baba had given us in Paris, we could invite Baba and his party to stay with us for a week at our joint expense. We wired our invitation to Nasik and a reply came almost immediately:

 

DELIGHTED ACCEPT INVITATION KIMCO FOR WEEK.

 

(Our little group of women was called “Kimco.") This thrilled us all and kept us continually busy mentally. January was now here and Baba hinted at March and April. We who were teachers hoped beyond measure that it would be April, or holiday time, as did the younger ones who were still at school.

 

We had suggested to Baba staying outside London, preferably in the country. We set about inquiring for places to stay. First there was the expense to be thought of; hotels were beyond our means. We then inquired of private guest houses. Here again there was the problem of explaining who the party was. A mixed party of Indians and English of both sexes required some explanation. To get a quiet place, and at the same time have it accessible to cinemas, was a most important point; to have it warm and not damp was another. After much looking

 

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