Once in Panchgani, Memo lost her temper, stormed out of the bungalow and hid behind some bushes. Baba himself went to search for her but could not find her. He sent a servant named Nana Koli to look for her.1 When Nana found her, he requested that she return to the house. But Shireenmai's indignation had not yet cooled, and she flatly refused to comply. When Baba was informed, he went to her. Shireenmai was still fuming and would not listen. Baba seemingly got fed up with her and went back inside. After a while, he again sent Nana. When Nana explained to Shireenmai how upset Baba was, she went back and the incident was forgotten.
On Thursday, 2 June 1938, Vishnu's cousin Indu and her husband Vishwanath S. Haldankar came to see Baba at Panchgani. Vishwanath was a goldsmith by profession and a happy-go-lucky sort of fellow. Baba asked them about Belgaum, as Vishwanath hailed from that city. As Baba listened to his description, he expressed interest in viewing the area as a possible site for the proposed ashram and went there for a day on the 4th, accompanied by Vishnu. (Chanji had taken Arnavaz and Nargis to Poona and met Baba and Vishnu in Belgaum.) Baba was given a tour of Belgaum and liked it very much. It was affordable; the climate was mild, so it would be suitable for the Westerners; it wasn't far from Poona and Ahmednagar; and the site shown him was full of shady mango trees.
Naval Talati had had a heart attack in Nasik on 25 May and was being treated. On 10 June, however, he died suddenly at the age of 45. News of his unexpected demise brought the recollection of the Master's words uttered the previous Silence Day at Meherabad, when he had stated:
"One of my closest mandali will die during the year."
Baba returned to Ahmednagar from Panchgani on Wednesday, 15 June 1938, with Mohammed Mast and the men and women mandali. Sarosh had arranged for Baba and the women to stay at the P.W.D. Irrigation bungalow in the town, as the construction work on Meherabad Hill was not yet completed. Mohammed was sent back to Meherabad. Baba would be driven practically daily by Adi Sr. from Ahmednagar to Meherabad to inspect the progress of the building work — the dome over his underground crypt, the upper story on the tank, the maternity home, et cetera. Occasionally, he would go twice a day and exhort Pendu, Kalemama and Naoroji to complete the work as soon as possible.
Footnotes
- 1.Nana Koli and his wife Tani were old servants and had been working at Meherabad since its establishment in the 1920s. Unlike most of the employees, they worked out of love for Baba, and continued to do so for many years.