In any case, Baba would just like you to see him once again as soon as you are free to do so. When we told Baba about your concern on the question of Untouchability as a whole, apart from the issue of joint and separate electorates, he said that sooner or later, Untouchability is going to disappear, root and branch. It will have to!
I had an interesting and prolonged discussion with His Holiness about the fast he has proposed to you. My only hesitation in putting it down [writing] all here is the concern of your health. However, I am going to write it as shortly as possible with a request that you will please go through it as it best suits your convenience.
During my ten years of company with Baba, I have seen him in various different moods and have heard him say many strange things. Yet I could not help but ask Baba the significance of his direct and definite offer to you of Ishwar Darshan [Sight of God] in exchange for a fast of 40 days, as though it were a hat or coat for sale in a department store! And the gist of his silent signals in the course of discussion that followed this provoking question, as well as that of the topic of the proposed fast conflicting with your present one, is as follows:
"Ishwar Darshan is very difficult. Only a hero can attain it. What's there in a 40-day fast! There is no law that God-realization can be attained by fasting ... Are there not some among you [mandali] who have been fasting for years? It does not solely depend on fasts, ritual, or some such other principles. But the desired result can be acquired through the strict observance of certain principles under the instructions from Perfect Beings who have gained divine Experience [God-realization] and who can give the same to others.
"The fact is that, among all his political and social movements, Gandhi longs in his heart of hearts for Divine Sight. He is unquestionably most honest and sincere. So when he told me that he wanted to pass a night by my side and, in London, that he wanted me to give him the 'key' [meaning, Ishwar Darshan], he meant what he said. He has the past preparation for that. When I sent the message about Ishwar Darshan, I meant it, too.