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The Darbar Pose Picture ofMeher Baba by Bal Natu, Meherazad
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his is one of the favorite pictures ofBaba, loved by His dear ones, and dis tributed widely. It has also appeared in the special issue of Deeplaxrni, which was published in 1970-71. Here I wish to share a story connected with this picture, which was taken by Shri Regay of Pune. Since 1958, Baba began staying in Guruprasad, Pune, for about three months with his close men and women mandali. Dur ing my six weeks summer vacation from school, Baba had graciouslypermitted me to staywith him. One ofmy duties during this time was to read out Marathi letters to Baba, and reply according to His directions. I think it was in 1960 that one day I re ceived a postcard from Regay addressed to Baba. In it he mentioned that he had taken pictures ofgreat dignitaries, and he requested Baba to give a special sitting so that he could take His portrait. In those days, Baba had given me discre tiori about which letters to read to Him. I personally reacted against the demands Regay was making of Baba, especially in seeking a special sitting. I regarded this as being imper tinent on his part. So I kept this postcard at the bottom ofthe pile. Baba would generally attend to three or four letters each day, and then askme to stop. I thought this way the letter would never be read out to Him. However, the next day Eruch, who used to read out English corre spondence to Baba, had verylittle to read. And so Baba signed me to continue with the re mainingMarathi letters. I would tell Him the gist ofeach letter, and, through gestures, He would convey His response. That day He was in a mood to listen to more of these letters than usual, and at last I came to Shri Regay’s letter. Instead ofreading out the letter, I told Baba the gist ofit, and made some disparag ing remarks to the effect that Baba would not like the tone ofthe letter. I assumed that Baba would feel myjudgement about it was correct. However, Baba showed interest in the contents, and asked me to read the entire letter to Him. Bythe time I finished reading it, to my surprise, Baba looked at me and said, “That’s fine! When should we call him?” He also asked me to set a definite date for
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in the proper manner, and the photographer stepped forward and rearranged them. In all, four pictures were taken of Baba, and, in addition, the photographer had his own picture taken with Him. A week later, he came with all the pictures and one enlarged coloured print, as a present. This is the same one that is now in the Blue Bus at Meherazad. As I say, this was a great lesson for me. Not only should I neverjudge others, I should never assume I knew how Baba would react to them. This picture has a special significance for me, because Baba, without any prompting, was willing to have it taken. In this particular picture, Baba’s frill form is visible, including His feet. He looks veryregal, like the King of Kings, and that is why this is known as the “Darbar Pose Picture.”—13 February 1994
the sitting, and instructed me to receive him and arrange to help him set up his equipment. In those days it was not easy to take pic tures; there was a great deal of paraphernalia involved for such a special photo. I received a mild shock, but obeyed Baba, and wrote a reply to Shri Regay. On the appointed day, the photographer came, and with a meek smile, I greeted him, and helped him to arrange his things in the mandali’s room, where Baba was shortly ex pected. Baba appeared in a happy mood and took His seat. I had never seen Baba making a special effort for any other photographer before. That day He looked very pleased and radiant. Looking at the photographer, He asked him, “How should I pose? What side of My face should I show? What angle?” While asking these questions, Baba would also look at me, which served as a les son to me that I should notjudge the inten tions ofothers. At one point, He even asked the photographer ifHe was folding His hands
w have learned through Babac example that there is no creature too small or insignficant to be the recipient ofHis loving glance andattention that nothing is left unattended or is overlooked by the God-Man. —
God takes Mancform and becomes the living expression ofPerfrction as man. —MeheraJ. Irani, from Baba Loved Us Tho
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