Pendu and Rusi Pop Irani had been instructed at Ahmednagar to go to Quetta, and arrange living accommodations for Baba and the group. Pendu and Rusi came to Jaipur on 22 February 1941 and the following morning had a long discussion with Baba about the arrangements. Rusi Pop was a former resident of Quetta, and during the 1920s Baba had stayed at his house three times. Following Baba's advice, Rusi and his family had left Quetta and were now residing in Ahmednagar. Rusi's daughter Katie had joined the women mandali on the Blue Bus tour, and another daughter, Goher, was studying to be a doctor in Bombay. During her vacations, Goher would eagerly come and stay with Baba, as she too had tasted Wine and longed for more.
For his work, Baba indicated that, en route to Quetta, he wanted to cross the Indus River and its five tributaries. Plans were chalked out to travel this way, although it was a precarious route, infested with thieves and dacoits. "Where his work was concerned, no thought of safety was considered," Age noted. "Besides, where is the question of safety for one who has the whole universe in the palm of his hand?"
As directed, taking the mast Chatti Baba with them, Baidul, Gustadji, Krishna, Venkoba Rao and Vishnu traveled to Quetta by train, preceding Baba's group. Chanji also left by train for Agra with Memo and Jalbhai. Baba left in Elizabeth's Buick with Mehera and five more women at six o'clock on Tuesday morning, 25 February 1941. The others followed in the Blue Bus. The bus was completely packed — 28 persons squeezed into seats designed for 14. Eruch was driving, and Nilu (and later Jalbhai) sat next to him in the front seat.1
Reaching Agra at noon that day, they stopped at a dak bungalow. Baba directed Eruch and Nilu to unload all the bedding from the top of the bus, and throughout the journey they had to do this task. After settling in, Baba sent Eruch out to find masts while Nilu and Jalbhai did the marketing. In the afternoon, after a lunch of fried potatoes, bread, butter and chutney (brought from Jabalpur), Baba took the women to the Taj Mahal, the Agra Fort and other places of interest.
While at the Taj Mahal, Baba was informed about a saintly old woman who lived in a deserted horse stable not far away. Baba was guided there by a gardener at the Taj Mahal. When Baba and the men approached the stable, they heard a wild cry like a roaring of a tiger, and when they entered the stable they found the woman. She was pacing back and forth, roaring in this extraordinary fashion, and when Baba approached her she stopped. She beckoned to Baba with respect, and Baba gestured to Eruch to ask her if she was happy to see him. She replied that she was truly very happy. Although old, she was a large, strong woman, both of her arms covered with bangles, and she had a bright attractive face. Baba remarked she was a very high mastani and referred to her as Mastani Mai.
Footnotes
- 1.Nilu was again to serve as assistant mechanic.