Baba approved the house, and Sunder Rajan moved into a tiny adjoining room on the premises. Baba "bothered" him every few minutes, sending him word not to make any noise. Sunder Rajan had to be content to remain in his room like a statue. When he had to go out, he would carry his shoes in his hands and quietly tiptoe out of the house. He would only put on his shoes when he was well outside the gate.
All this may sound strange and unbelievable for one who did not know who Meher Baba was. But Baba's attraction was so strong, even atheists changed their minds about God's existence and were ready to serve Baba when they met him.
The Parsi mandali were accommodated in the Parsi dharamshala, and Deshmukh (a Hindu, not permitted to stay at the Parsi dharamshala) stayed in the Anand Bhavan Hotel. All saw Baba every morning at Sunder Rajan's for instructions.
Soon after settling in, Baba changed his plan: Instead of feeding 50 people per day for a month, he now wished to feed all the hundreds of them at once! Chanji went to inform Dr. Chowria, who gladly agreed to the proposal. Every member of his organization worked wholeheartedly. After a thorough selection process, they invited the most needy of the middle class to the feast. Tasty food was prepared, and dhotis and saris were purchased.
The "generous Parsi" arrived at the school building on Tuesday, 19 October 1943, for the program, and was escorted to a private room where he could distribute the food. One of the mandali was posted to make sure no one except the genuinely needy entered. Baba served food to about 325 middle-class persons who had become destitute. All the poor people gazed at him. They could not help themselves. Baba was such a unique personality that his splendor could not be hidden.
The guests murmured among themselves, "This Parsi must be a real Mahatma! How great he is to feed us so lovingly without any publicity. Others wish their names in the papers and photographers present for any small service." After the meal, Baba handed each man a dhoti and each woman a sari. His name was never disclosed, yet the wave from his Ocean of love touched every heart and, in so doing, cleansed it more than they could ever know.
For the previous few days, besides the feeding of the poor, Baba had been busy hunting for masts in Calcutta.
