Baba's plans were never fixed. As soon as his work was complete, he would leave the place on one pretext or another. Baba had originally gone to Cannes with plans to stay a full year, but on 7 October 1937, Baba shocked the group by announcing that he would be leaving Cannes to return to India within three weeks. No one expected him to leave so soon, and Mohammed Mast had not yet even arrived, though he was already on the way by ship.
To bring a God-intoxicated mast on an international journey from India to France was no small undertaking. But it was Baba's wish and he once again made the seemingly impossible possible.
In the first place, to get a person like Mohammed a passport was in itself a minor miracle, since it could not be procured without his signature. How would the authorities issue a passport to a man whom ordinary people would consider mad? The Ahmednagar city magistrate insisted Mohammed be brought to his office, so that he could see him in person. Before their appointment, Sarosh took a tailor to Meherabad and had a suit made for the mast. On 14 September, dressed in his new suit and wearing a pair of shoes and socks, Sarosh, Adi Sr., Pendu and Baidul presented the mast to the magistrate at the Collector's office. The magistrate was unimpressed. "You've brought me a mad person," he said. Sarosh tried to explain that Mohammed was not mad, but God-intoxicated. The magistrate asked Mohammed a series of questions, such as "What is your name? ... Where do you want to go?" Mohammed answered for a while, but then said, "Why have I come here?"
The magistrate refused to sign the forms without a guarantee that Mohammed would not endanger anyone. Sarosh gave the guarantee and the necessary documents for Mohammed's passport were completed and a passport issued.1
Eleven days later, Sarosh drove Adi Sr., Baidul and Mohammed to Bombay, where they faced yet more hurdles. Mohammed's mood was cross and cantankerous that day. As they went to board their ship, the customs' officer refused to allow Mohammed to pass. Adi and Sarosh begged the officer, explaining that Mohammed was "a mental patient who is going to France for treatment." Finally, after prolonged arguments back and forth, the officer relented. Mohammed was cleared and they boarded the ship, while Sarosh waited on the gangway.
The two mandali and Mohammed were booked in one cabin. Before the ship sailed, Adi told Baidul to look after Mohammed while he went to check on their luggage. Baidul, in all the excitement of departure, thought there would be no harm if he went on deck for a moment to watch the proceedings. He left, but when he returned, he found that Mohammed too had left the cabin. Where had he gone? Mohammed had wanted to urinate and needed Baidul's help with the Western toilet, so he went in search of him.
Frantic with worry, Adi Sr. and Baidul ran looking for the mast. They found him on the top main deck. A crowd had formed around Mohammed after he created a commotion by relieving himself in the open on the deck! Women and children were present, and the Captain was summoned. "Remove this man from my ship," he bellowed at Adi Sr. "Otherwise, I will call the police and make sure he is removed!"
While Baidul escorted Mohammed back to their cabin, Adi conferred privately with the Captain in his office, apologizing profusely and again begging to permit Mohammed to travel. The Captain agreed only after Adi promised to keep a close watch over the mast at all times.
And so, their ship, the Strathaird — with Mohammed aboard — sailed from Bombay for France on 25 September 1937.
The first few days, Mohammed was quiet and well-behaved; but then for the remainder of the two-week voyage, Mohammed proved a terrible nuisance. He would abuse or curse the other passengers to their face, fling lighted cigarettes at them and spend much of his time hunched over collecting litter off the deck of the ship. Shocked, if not frightened, the other passengers complained to the captain about him. Adi and Baidul were much harassed and embarrassed on account of his behavior. Finally, the only way Adi could keep control of Mohammed was to threaten that the police would come if he did not act properly. Responding like a child, Mohammed seemed afraid of the idea of the police coming after him.
Footnotes
- 1.Adi also had a great deal of difficulty in obtaining a French visa in Baidul's Persian passport, running pillar-to-post between the two consulates in Bombay just prior to their departure.