Ten years after Bhau Kalchuri agreed for the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides to hold an annual rally using Meherabad facilities, the event finally came to fruition. From December 1 to December 7, 2018, Meherabad filled with approximately 7,000 scouts and guides from all over the State of Maharashtra.

 

Photo courtesy of unknown Boys Scout leader

A large, temporary stadium was constructed in Upper Meherabad, approximately a kilometer behind the Samadhi. The girls stayed in the Pilgrim Education Site—the aluminum-roofed buildings to the right of the stadium in this photo. These buildings also house pilgrims during Amartithi.

The boys stayed in tents in a different area.

Each morning and evening small groups of the guides and scouts went to the Samadhi to have Baba's darshan and participate in arti.

On December 4, all 7,000 scouts and guides dressed in traditional dress and paraded to Baba's Samadhi.

 

Like so many pilgrims, these scouts found a spot to rest on the side of Baba's cabin.

In addition, each afternoon, several hundred scouts and guides visited the compound at Upper Meherabad where Baba lived with the women mandali in the '30s and '40s.

Photo courtesy of Anne Giles, 1972

A Meherabad resident who gave the tour of Baba's kitchen one afternoon said she had never seen such fascination with Mansari among first-time pilgrims. "They were awed that Mansari [one of Baba's women mandali] had lived on the Hill for 52 years, per Baba's order, never to cross the railroad tracks except for medical care. Their interest was so intense that I wondered if perhaps in their last life they had had tea with Mansari in the kitchen," said Cindy. The photo above shows Mansari outside Baba's kitchen in 1972.

 

These guides are from Pimpalgaon Malvi, the village closest to Meherazad. After they returned to school from the rally, I asked some of the girls, "What was your favorite part?" For one, the best part was meeting the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. For another, it was seeing the dance performances in the stadium. When I sought the opinion of the last girl, she said, "Having Meher Baba's darshan."

Clea McNeely (text) and Paul Liboiron (photos) for Avatar Meher Baba Trust January 22, 2019