Baba was sitting still, resting his head on the windowpane. He had not said a word after their discussion and had not moved. He seemed intoxicated.
Some of the passengers became restless and started moving about, but Baily and Ghani paid no attention to them. After a long wait in Neral, they learned that heavy rains had flooded the tracks between the villages of Badlapur and Ambarnath, and it was now impossible for the train to proceed to Bombay just 50 miles ahead. Suddenly, the conductor announced that the train was going back to Poona!
Upon hearing this, Ghani became uncomfortable. As the train headed back, thoughts overwhelmed his mind and he stared at Baba as if longing for an explanation. Ghani had called Baba mad, but now his own state of mind was that of someone mentally disturbed. Baily was also stupefied. Neither man uttered a word.
“”Baba himself broke the tension by casually asking, "This is Neral, isn't it?"
"Yes," Baily replied, "It is the same Neral that has crushed our hopes of a holiday in Bombay."
“”"But why? What is the matter?" Baba asked.
Baily spoke up, "You know the reason! You foretold that the train would not proceed farther than Neral — and now you claim you don't know why?"
“”"To tell you the truth, I don't know anything else about it," Baba replied, seeming genuinely perplexed. "I myself wonder why I predicted such a thing!"
Baily, irritated by Baba's remarks, blurted out, "I cannot believe it! Like a prophet you foretold what was going to happen, but you could not have done so without some sound reason! You cannot tell us that you don't know why you predicted this!"
“”"Of course, what you say is true," Baba replied, "but what I say is also true. It is beyond my comprehension how I could have foretold this. Thinking it over, I believe that it was not I who spoke, but someone else! It was some power whose medium I was that made me speak accordingly."
Ghani, who had remained silent throughout this exchange, could not bear it any longer and interrupted, "Merwan, you really make me wonder what kind of man you are! I do not want to argue with you ever again. I request, however, that you not predict such things ever again in my presence. I am now afraid of you and the power that is within you. I fold my hands in respect before you. I know now that you know everything and I bow down to you!"
