Little Mehera
Happy childhood memories of a Parsi girl in the adventuresome Northwest Frontier of British Raj India
Written & illustrated by Sally Amft Gerke
Paperback 46 pages, 6 x 9" sized, illustrated with 22 full-color paintings
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Delve into the magical childhood world of Mehera, Baba’s closest disciple. Follow Mehera as she grows up with a father who was a park ranger, having many adventures in the wilderness with her family and all the animals, especially her favorite, horses!
This little gem of a full-color book full of illustrations of stories from Mehera’s childhood is perfect for toddlers and enjoyable for Baba followers of any age.
From the author
I had the great good fortune to meet Baba’s Beloved, Mehera in 1976. I asked her if I might sketch her. Mehera said, “NO!” Then, at a break time she came to me and asked, “If I let you sketch me, would you need to sit very close to me?” I replied,“No Mehera, I would sit far away”. She asked, “If I let you sketch me, would you tell me to hold still?” I replied, “No Mehera, I would not say anything.” Finally she asked, “If I let you sketch me, would you STARE at me?” I replied, “Yes Mehera, I would stare and stare and stare.” Mehera stopped, and she STARED at me! Mehera seemed to look into me for a long, long moment. That moment was so long that it is still going on today! Mehera said, OK!”.
A few nights later I woke up at four in the morning and drew a picture of Baba. When I showed it to Mehera she asked me when I had drawn it. Mehera told me that at that time she was dreaming that she was watching me sketch Baba. She said, “Yes Baba, Sally should draw you!” So, now I am keeping, and shall never ever give up, Mehera and Beloved Baba’s permission to STARE and STARE and STARE at them both.
During my 1976 visit and again in 1978 I was entranced with Mehera’s early childhood memories. I imagined them as a children’s picture book.
Published 2024
Mehera J. Irani
“Mehera loves Me as I should be loved," said Meher Baba of his closest disciple, Mehera J. Irani. From her first glimpse of him in 1922 when she was only fifteen, Mehera was deeply drawn to “Merwanji”, as Baba was then called. So was her mother, and their desire to serve him was answered when, two years later, Baba called them to form his first women’s ashram at Meherabad. It was not long afterwards that Mehera’s special place among the women disciples became apparent. As Baba’s sister Mani wrote, “As Sita was for Ram, Radha for Krishna, Mary for Jesus, for this Advent of Meher Baba, it is Mehera who plays the leading role. This role, of being the chosen counterpart to the God-Man, amounts to the highest, purest, most spiritual relationship, consisting of a divine love which the world cannot imagine.”
From those early, cloistered years at Meherabad and other bases from which Baba worked, through the New Life of wandering in the late 1940s and early 50s, on visits to the USA and Europe, and on through his last years at Meherazad, Mehera shared each phase of Baba’s life as his most beloved disciple. She was his personal attendant among the women, and lived a life of purity and seclusion, having no contact with men other than him.
After Baba passed away in 1969, Mehera overcame her great grief to lovingly greet visitors to Meherazad and share stories of her life with Baba. Her deep absorption in her beloved made a strong impression on those who met her, all the more because as a person she was so natural. She had a childlike openness, an empathy with and keen interest in Baba’s followers, a gentle humor and sense of fun, plus a great love for flowers, animals and all natural things, all of which endeared her to people. She passed away twenty years after Baba in 1989. Mehera continues to be held in the highest esteem by Meher Baba’s disciples, both for her matchless remembrance of him and for her unique example of loving him as he should be loved.
