Kishan Singh from Rawalpindi had first heard of Meher Baba in 1933. He had tried to meet Baba in Dehra Dun in May of 1941, but by the time he got there Baba had left. He began corresponding with Baba through Adi Sr., and longed for his darshan. He had been called to the meeting in May, but as it coincided with some official work he had to attend to, he found it impossible to get leave.
Finally on May 3rd, 1945, Kishan arrived in Hyderabad, determined to have Baba’s darshan after all these years. He did not know Baba’s address, but after much searching through the city, a tonga driver brought him to the mandali’s residence, where he encountered Vishnu. Vishnu greeted him with strong words: “Baba is not seeing anyone. He is fasting. So now you should leave.”
Kishan was not so easily dissuaded, replying, “Baba himself has created this restlessness in my heart for his darshan, and I won’t leave without his darshan.”
“If Baba has called you, you have come. Now, it is Baba’s order that you go back.” Vishnu countered.
Kishan was adamant. “I won’t leave this place. If you want me to leave, let me have his darshan.”
“Listen, I do not know who you are, but if you don’t go, I will be forced to remove you physically.” Vishnu threatened. “Without Baba’s permission, even a king cannot see him!”
Kishan Singh was, in fact, an influential government official; however, he had no idea that Baba’s mandali, when instructed, would humbly serve as sweepers to the poor and beggars, and at the same time had the nobility of preventing emperors from entering Baba’s presence.
Kishan Singh explained his difficulties about not being able to come in May. Vishnu sympathized, “Were I not helpless myself, I would take you to him, but it is his order. At this time, Baba is on a fast and not seeing anyone. This is the third day of his ten-day fast.”
“I’ll stay for ten days,” said Kishan.
“You cannot stay here, but you can stay elsewhere and write a short application to Baba requesting darshan. I’ll forward it to him and see what he says.”
Kishan agreed and wrote out his heart’s petition, then and there. As he finished, Baidul happened to pass, and took Kishan’s letter to Baba and told him about the man from Rawalpindi. Baba sent word back through Baidul that Kishan could see him from a distance of twenty yards for two minutes, but Kishan should not bow down to him. Kishan Singh, of course, agreed, and Baidul led him to the gate of Baba’s residence, again reminding him not to bow down or even to bow his head, but simply to fold his hands to Baba when he appeared.
From sixty feet away, Baba came out of the house onto the porch. Here is Kishan Singh’s description of what he saw:
It is still beyond my power to explain or write what I saw in Meher Baba when he appeared on that porch to be seen. Suffice it to say that I simply felt stunned at the very first glance. The lustre on Baba’s face at once attracted my mind to surrender to him wholeheartedly, regardless of his spiritual attainment – whether he was or was not the Avatar or a Sadguru, or even an ordinary saint or not a saint at all! Baba’s smiling countenance cemented the tie of the little love that I then had for him in my heart. His brilliant eyes formed the index for what was in store for me in the near future. In fact, I presently felt the dawning of a New Era in my heart.
And in that bewildered and dazed state, filled with ecstasy, Kishan Singh totally forgot all the previous instructions and laid himself face down on the ground in worship. Baidul raised a loud hue and cry, trying to stop him.
After exactly two minutes, Baba clapped and went back inside the bungalow, and Baidul helped Kishan to his feet. He was given food at the mandali’s quarters and, according to Baba’s orders, left for home. Returning to Rawalpindi, he delved into spreading the word about Meher Baba. Later, Kishan Singh was to prove an important contact in Baba’s work.
Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 8, p. 3021 – 3022.