Babajan would always speak about this in a cryptic fashion. Then late one night, she spoke in a very clear manner, "The treasure is yours to have now; the key is there. Go to Shirdi. There is a Sai [a holy one] there. Go see the Sai. See if he will give you the key."
One day Merwan told Khodu, "For the past several months, I have had a terrible pain in my stomach and it won't go away. I don't know what to do about it."
Khodu had heard of the miracles surrounding Sai Baba and, remembering what Babajan had recently told Merwan, said, "My friend, if you come with me to Sai Baba, perhaps your pain will disappear. I have heard that he has cured every type of affliction; miracles are an everyday occurrence at Shirdi. Let's go meet this holy man."
Merwan agreed. Although neither Merwan nor Khodadad knew where Shirdi was, Merwan was insistent they find it. They departed. When they reached the village of Shirdi, they encountered a roadblock of stick-wielding villagers, who informed them that Sai Baba was in a foul temper and had stopped giving darshan.
"We have come to see Sai Baba," said Khodu. "Let us pass."
"You cannot see Sai Baba," the villagers informed them. "No one can see him. He has given instructions that no one should come for his darshan today. Go back from where you came."
Khodu pleaded, "We have come all the way from Poona. We must meet Sai Baba. Please understand."
The villagers refused to listen to Khodu's pleas, saying, "We must obey our Master's instructions. We cannot allow anyone to pass."
Khodu turned to Merwan and said, "It looks like we will have to go back."
But Merwan preferred to wait and sat down under a tree. "You can go back if you like," he told Khodu, "but I have come to see the Sai and I will." They spent the night under the tree in spite of the warnings of the villagers. It was wintertime and Khodu shivered in the bitter cold.
The next morning, they awakened and had hot tea at a nearby vendor, but there was no word from Sai Baba, and the villagers still refused to let them pass. In the afternoon, word came. "Sai Baba is calling you two to his mosque," the villagers said. "But he is still in a bad mood," they warned. "Be careful."