He rose early so he could prepare to open the shop; he cleaned the toilets, swept the floors and verandah and generally cleaned up the place. Then he washed the bottles and dishes and prepared the toddy. Most of the toddyshop customers were the usual derelicts and unsavory characters who frequented such establishments. At times, some would have too much to drink, become rude and disorderly and begin cursing obscenities. Often there were brawls. No matter what sort of men they were, Merwanji would always handle them kindly, gently influencing them to change their ways. Behramji, on the other hand, refused to tolerate any drunken behavior. Not a day passed when he did not beat or abuse someone, usually throwing the fellow out of the shop.
However, when Behramji was out of the shop, these uncouth characters were drawn to Merwanji — they were attracted to the love within him. He would spend hours with them, and when they were in a mood to listen, he would advise them to drink less and eventually give it up. Merwanji tried to see that his customers never drank more than they could handle; if anyone wanted to continue, insisting on ordering one toddy after another, he would refuse to serve him.
The toddyshop was a refuge not only for alcoholics, but also for vagrants and sometimes sadhus, who would line up outside the shop. Merwanji would reach in the till with his slender hands, gather a handful of silver coins and fling the money to them. Naturally, news of his generosity spread fast among the beggars, and many came every day.
Gradually, Merwanji was preparing and drawing certain persons to him through his loving nature and generous personality. Working in the toddyshop was the medium he used for contacting certain men who would later become his close disciples. From the outside, the toddyshop appeared to be a normal liquor business, but, inside, it was a Tavern for the give-and-take of divine love.
There was also another reason for Merwanji to physically exert himself so much at that time. While he was coming down from Super Consciousness — nirvikalp samadhi — through the mental and subtle planes, to normal gross consciousness, Merwanji needed to do some menial, intensely gross physical tasks. Doing some lowly labor such as cleaning toilets, washing dishes and sweeping floors increased his gross awareness or worldly consciousness, and brought him down sooner to function normally again in the world.