ON APRIL 30th, 1923, Baba took a long hike with the mandali to a place called Happy Valley, situated fourteen miles to the north of Ahmednagar. Legend has it that during Lord Ram’s wanderings in exile, he, Sita and Laxman had stayed at Happy Valley for some time.
Meher Baba stayed in the dak bungalow – a government rest house. Since some of the wedding guests had followed them, the food being sent from Ahmednagar was not sufficient and extra vegetables had to be prepared. This inconvenienced the men the next three days, which were supposed to be spent relaxing, playing cards or games, and listening to bhajans.
During their stay in Happy Valley, brother Jal told him an amusing story about Aspandiar’s japa – repetition of God’s name – in Manzil-e-Meem. Jal said, “Every morning, I used to watch Aspandiar sit for meditation. Due to the mosquitoes and his sleepiness, his body would sway back and forth – he moved like a pendulum!” Baba laughed at this and decided to nickname his cousin “Pendulum,” which was shortened to “Pendu.” And Aspandiar was called by that name ever after.
Jal was always filled with humorous stories and related another. He said that Faredoon was once sitting on the veranda of the Manzil when, finding no one near, he passed gas so loudly Jal thought a firecracker had exploded! Baba again laughed when he heard this story and called out to Faredoon, “Hey Padarya!” – from the Gujarati word paad – to which Faredoon responded.
Someone else chimed in, “Baba, Faredoon is so tall and solemn that he looks like a Christian padre or priest.”
Meher Baba said to Faredoon, “From today, your name is Padri.” Thus, Faredoon gained his official nickname and was known as Padri for the rest of his life.
Lord Meher, Bhau Kalchuri, Original Publication, Vol. 2, p. 502.