Leaving the ashram was against Nargis' cherished hopes of serving Baba, and she protested, "I won't allow it. I want to serve you, not be a burden to you."
Baba explained, "Continue doing as I tell you. By not obeying me, you are a burden to me! When I have to explain things to you, that is a headache to me! When you don't want anything from me, why worry?"
Nargis returned to Bombay with Arnavaz and placed herself under Dr. Kohiyar's care. Although his treatment was expensive, he did not take any fee from her. This amazed Nargis and made her love for Baba even stronger.
Adi Jr. arrived in Bangalore on the evening of the 4th. Naoroji, Nariman and Sarosh arrived four days later. Goher also spent several weeks at the Links. Kaka Baria returned on the 10th and began doing nightwatch near Baba. On the 11th, Padri and Sarosh left by the morning train for Mysore. Naoroji and Nariman accompanied them and returned to Bombay three days later. Masaji, who had been to Bombay, returned on the 12th.
Deshmukh also left for Madras and then Nagpur on the 11th. Before he left, Baba met him at Adi Sr.'s bungalow, along with Dolly and Falu. On the 11th evening at 5:00 P.M., Baba held a meeting at the men's quarters. In a lighthearted mood, he suggested each of them write down their preferences for amusements. Don jokingly wrote "marbles," and so Baba made him secretary of the "Marbles Club." Baba was its president; Ghani, Kaka and Pendu its members.
Nilu wrote down "sweets on Mondays," and Baba said he should be given one spoonful of sugar every Monday. Dattu Mehendarge (who had come to stay in Bangalore to help in the office and Journal work) asked to be allowed to see a good picture (film) once in a while, and so Baba gave him a book filled with "pictures" of saints to look at!
Baba was not meeting the public in Bangalore, but at 3:30 P.M. on Sunday, 12 November 1939, he made an exception. He granted a few minutes of darshan to three accomplished young men: a Western author and art critic named Francis Watson, 32; an Indian science student, Vikram Sarabhai, 20, who was studying at Cambridge; and another Indian, Kittu Purna, a former student at Oxford. Baba told them to come back after a month, when he would answer any questions they had.1
Watson had an interest in spirituality and later met Ramana Maharshi.
Footnotes
- 1.Francis Watson was a curator of the prestigious Wallace Collection in London and later became its director. Vikram Sarabhai later worked with C. V. Raman and is considered the "Father of the Indian space program." Kittu Purna was a close friend of the Indian novelist R. K. Narayan and had been instrumental in getting Narayan's work published in England through the British novelist Graham Greene.