Baba went back to Rahuri the following day and began staying in a small one-room hut built for him there. He resided in Rahuri for most of the next three months, until October. He would sometimes sit in seclusion with one of the mad or advanced souls.
From September 1936, Baba began visiting Nasik every Wednesday to make certain that matters were going smoothly in the work of preparing for the Westerners' arrival. He would return to Rahuri in the evenings. On Thursdays he would visit Meherabad to see the women mandali, again returning to Rahuri in the evening. Sometimes he rose at 3:00 A.M. and left Rahuri for Meherabad at 4:30 A.M.
There were a few genuine God-intoxicated masts and a few God-mad in the Rahuri ashram, but for the most part the inmates were mad, mentally disturbed or retarded men found in the towns and villages of the surrounding areas, with nothing spiritual about them. The inmates were given every freedom, except that of stepping outside the extensive limits of the ashram grounds.
God-intoxicated or worldly mad, the behavior of the inmates was found to be truly abnormal. One mast named Dagdu Bua liked to be called "Bhau" (Brother). If called by that name, he would shrug his shoulders, hug his chest and beam with happiness. At times, Dagdu Bua would climb up one of the large trees in the compound and sit clinging to an uppermost branch for four or five hours at a time.
Another strange mast, who had no name, was brought from Bombay for a short time. He would smear his entire body with ash and lime. Although this God-intoxicated man was not identified, he was the first mast to be bathed by Baba here.
One mast named Lal Saheb would fall at Baba's feet and embrace him with fervor. He would address Baba as "God!" Lal Saheb was friends with a half-wit named Punjia , who was one of the most amusing and lovable characters in the ashram. Lal Saheb would promise Punjia that he would bring him a wagon full of gold, jewels and treasures, and would have him married to a rich maharaja's daughter. Lal would keep his hand in his pocket, saying he had a crore of rupees (ten million) in it, and would ask Punjia whether he should pull out the money and give it all to him. Punjia would answer, "No, not yet."
Even though Punjia acted childish or silly, and was nicknamed Goofy , he was splendid company and became the life of the ashram.