Baba and America

I was astounded yesterday when watching a talk by Meherwan Irani (link), Baba's great grand-nephew, about his restaurant business. From an earlier talk of his I knew that he had gotten into the restaurant business but I had no idea of how successful that business had become. I discovered that the restaurant had won a prestigious award in the United States. See Figure 1.

Figure 1: source

Not only that but Meherwan was invited to be the chef for a dinner held at the White House for the visiting Prime Minister of Indian, Modi. Figure 2 shows a screenshot of Meherwan standing to the right of Modi (from the viewer's perspective) with another Baba Lover to his left.

 
Figure 2: screenshot from YouTube video

Here is an excerpt from the commentary on the video:

On September 29th 2023, Meherwan Irani was the featured guest at an Asheville fund raiser for Meher Archive Collective. The dinner was catered by Chai Pani, the award-winning restaurant owned by Meherwan and Molly Irani. In his talk Meherwan tells of taking inspiration from Avatar Meher Baba’s motto: “Mastery in Servitude”. He tells of his career journey with the roots being from his own family’s love of cooking, service, and hospitality. Meherwan also shares about his recent experience of catering a U.S. State Department luncheon in honor of the prime minister of India. Meherwan is the great grand-nephew of Avatar Meher Baba.

Mention is made earlier that Meherwan was a five-times James Beard-nominated chef and this is what Google's Bard had to say about James Beard:

James Beard was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher, and television personality. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in the development of American cuisine.

Beard was born in Portland, Oregon in 1903. He began his cooking career in the 1930s, working in restaurants and hotels in New York City. In the 1940s, he began writing cookbooks and articles about food. He also hosted a cooking show on television, which was one of the first of its kind.

Beard was a passionate advocate for American cuisine. He believed that American food was just as good as, if not better than, European food. He also believed that American chefs should use fresh, local ingredients in their cooking.

Beard's influence on American cuisine is immeasurable. He helped to popularize American food and to raise the standards of American cooking. He also inspired a generation of chefs, including Julia Child, Alice Waters, and Wolfgang Puck.

The phrase "James Beard" is significant in the context of chefs because it represents a commitment to excellence and innovation. It also represents a commitment to American cuisine and to using fresh, local ingredients.

Here are some of James Beard's contributions to the culinary world:

• He helped to popularize American cuisine and to raise the standards of American cooking.
• He inspired a generation of chefs, including Julia Child, Alice Waters, and Wolfgang Puck.
• He wrote over 20 cookbooks, including the classic American Cookery.
• He hosted a cooking show on television, which was one of the first of its kind.
• He founded the James Beard Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that promotes American cuisine and supports culinary professionals.

The James Beard Awards are the most prestigious awards in the American culinary world. They are named after James Beard in recognition of his contributions to the culinary industry.

Today, the phrase "James Beard" is synonymous with excellence in the culinary world. It is a badge of honor for chefs to be associated with James Beard and with the James Beard Foundation.

Meherwan was born on January 12th 1970, almost a year after Baba dropped his body, and shares the exact same birthday with his wife, Molly. It's clear that as 2069, the one hundred year anniversary of Baba's passing draws closer, the stage is being set for a growing awareness of Meher Baba's spiritual status by a still sleeping humanity and America will be the crucible in which that awakening takes place.

The Personal Significance of 21

It only occurred to me recently how important the number 21 was in my life. From about two years of age, I lived at 21 Mayneview Street in Milton, Brisbane. Here is a link to photos of the house and its interior.

I lived there uninterruptedly until I was 21 years of age. A couple of weeks after my 21st birthday on April 3rd 1970, I was conscripted into the army. That was a hugely significant event in my life.

Prior to my conscription I had been completely aimless, dropping out of University and then out of a teachers training college. The experience, a brief nine months, was transformitive and I emerged from it with a renewed sense of purpose and direction. The time span of nine months of course is suggestive of a gestation period.

By my 22nd birthday I was out of the army thanks to my recently won conscientious objector status, I was employed full time as a high school teacher thanks to my uncle's assistance and was studying part time at the University that I had dropped out of in 1968. Turning 21 proved to be a pivotal year in determining the future direction of my life.

Looking forward to 1995, this year's number factorises to 3 x 5 x 7 x 19 or 21 x 95 and this was another pivotal year for me. My father died midway through that year and then later in that same year my then wife and I made the decision to leave Australia, marking the start of my adventures in Singapore, Jakarta and Shanghai.