Baba contacted one mast and one mastani in Multan. The bus arrived late in the afternoon, amazingly with only one puncture along the way. Eruch and Nilu were sent into the town to hunt masts. Eruch was also to bring a few boys, and Baba selected one to join them on the pretext that the boy would be taught to operate a movie projector and get a job at the Sarosh Cinema in Ahmednagar. But Baba had a hidden reason for the boy he chose.
In Multan, at last, with much unwillingness, Baba allowed Eruch and Nilu to purchase two new tires and tubes. The road from Multan to Quetta was notorious for its highway robberies. Even though it was infested with mountain brigands, Baba chose to go that way — in spite of the presence of the women.
They left at 7:00 A.M. on 7 March for the town of Khar, a distance of 110 miles.1 After fifteen miles they came to a railway bridge. As Eruch took the bus across at a crawl, the wooden planks of the bridge heaved and rattled under the weight of their five-ton load. The bridge began tilting. Nilu was terrified. It was pouring down rain and the roads were very bad. They had to cross five more bridges, and the last one, after Muzaffargarh, across the Indus, was the longest — and proved to be the most treacherous.
The toll-keeper said he would not be responsible for any mishap, since the bridge was built to support vehicles of not more than two and a half tons. He allowed them to pass only after their most vigorous protests. The bridge groaned and rattled as the Blue Bus followed the car across. The women inside were loudly repeating Baba's name. Behind them some of the wooden planks cracked into pieces and went flying off into the air. After they crossed, all shouted Baba's name in thanks! They all were perspiring despite the cold, and they realized that, were it not for Baba's vigilant nazar as he watched from the other side, everyone and the bus would have gone tumbling off the bridge to their deaths in the Indus River.
The boy whom Baba had brought from Multan was with him in the car and had no idea who the friendly silent stranger was. The boy was singing to himself, but when the women started shouting, "Sadguru Meher Baba ki jai," he realized that he was in the presence of someone great.
Footnotes
- 1.Khar is also known as Ft. Munro.