Elizabeth took the dogs Kippy and Foundy with her. They proceeded to Bombay, arriving on the morning of the 29th, where they were met by Kaka and Chanji. Irene Conybeare joined them at the Regent Hotel. Due to wartime restrictions, their American ship was delayed and they did not set sail until 11 June, having spent two weeks waiting in Bombay. Norina wrote to Baba:
We finally leave today ... to the hemisphere where you need us to be ... I put my head and heart at your feet and go wherever you send me, with your feet in my hands. I love you, love you, love you, love ...
Age observed, "Norina, Elizabeth and Nadine took Baba with their tears. This separation was truly unbearable for them; but to keep the Beloved's pleasure, the pangs they felt deeply piercing their heart were not of pain but of a hidden joy. This life of love is always full of pain, and although at times it is severe, without it there is no happiness in life! The lover suffers from this affliction, but he comes to love the suffering as an inseparable part of his being."
Norina was an emotional, colorful Italian, and Irene Conybeare was a reserved, British intellectual — as opposite personalities as one could imagine. Norina, who was always gushing about Baba, was disappointed with Irene's nonchalant and seemingly unenthusiastic manner over her meeting with Baba. Norina was constantly asking her, "Don't you feel transformed , child? Didn't you feel any glowing illumination flowing into you from the Master?" And Irene would look glum and reply, "No, I did not feel that."
Before leaving Bombay, Irene wrote an exasperated note to Baba requesting: "Please give me a speck of illumination to keep Norina quiet!" Some days later, standing on the deck of the ship, looking out at the sea, she got her "speck of illumination" as her eyes filled with "inner radiance," as she described it; and she knew, as Baba said she would, and was convinced of its source!
Eruch, who was in Bangalore with his family, wrote a letter to Baidul inquiring about Baba's health after the monthlong fast in April. When Baba was in a good mood in Ajmer on 27 May, he himself replied to Eruch's letter in the form of a humorous poem in Gujarati: