Among the men mandali with Baba were Adi Sr. (for part of the time), Baidul, Ghani, Gustadji, Kaka, Krishna, Nilu, Vishnu and Venkoba Rao. The remainder of the mandali were in Meherabad, and Eruch was living at Bindra House in Poona. Baba would send for Eruch from time to time, and also Padri, Pendu, Kalemama and Jalbhai. Deshmukh would come from Nagpur and stayed at Hyderabad during his vacations from the university. He was engaged in writing work according to Baba's instructions.
Soon after arriving in Hyderabad, Baba started his mast work. He would daily go out with Kaka and Baidul to contact masts. Among the great masts was Maqdum , an old saint who shouted wherever he went, " Ya Hussain ... Ya Hussain ," — cries for the slaughtered grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. He lived in a little room near the city jail, in which he collected the usual rubbish of odds and ends typical of many masts. When Baba met with him he had several stray puppies in his abode.
Chaman Alishah , another advanced mast of mental consciousness, was about 40 years old. Tall and bearded, he wore a black kafni, and kept pigeons as pets. He would speak aloud to himself in a constantly changing voice, so that a passerby who overheard him might think that there were several different men talking together. When Baba saw him, Chaman, surprisingly, was heard to say, "Merwan was to come yesterday, but he has come today!"
Ghulam Hussein was a high salik-like mast, who dressed very handsomely, and was referred to as "the gentleman saint." He was so well known and so revered in Hyderabad that wherever he went people saluted him with respect.
Abkari (meaning Captain of a ship) was a tall old mast who wore dark sunglasses and dressed like a seaman in blue denim. He carried a tin, which he hit like a drum. His nonsensical utterances were impossible to understand by any ordinary mortal. Despite an eccentric appearance and mannerisms, he was revered and slept in the royal mansion of a nawab (Muslim prince).
One person whom Baba liked, although he was not a high mast but a seeker, was an Arab called Islam Chaous, who possessed a jovial temperament. He would crack jokes with everyone and amazingly always appeared happy, even in the cemetery which was his abode by night. Baba liked Islam Chaous' good nature and humor.