But this time, Chacha surprised them by asking for bread and mutton, which were brought to him. Baba sat with Chacha for an hour and a half and was very satisfied with the inner work done. After visiting other places en route, Baba returned to Niranjanpur about twelve days later.
Meanwhile Keki Nalavala had the opportunity of coming into Baba's close contact at this time. During his stay in Niranjanpur, Baba permitted Keki to visit daily. One day Baba instructed him to bring five needy former middle-class people, those who had suffered some misfortune, but who found it difficult to seek help because of their upbringing.
Keki searched everywhere and found that almost everyone he met was needy. He was nervous of making a mistake, but at last managed to choose five, and he brought them to Baba in a tonga. In a closed room, Baba washed their feet and gave them prasad in the form of money.
After they had gone, Baba explained to Keki, "The whole world is needy, but I wanted to contact those people who are helpless, yet do not beg."
Adi Sr. was called to Niranjanpur from Ahmednagar on 19 July 1946. Baba left for Hardwar on the 24th, with Adi, Kaka, Baidul and Eruch. They stayed on the fourth floor of a small hotel. Baba sent Eruch and Baidul to scout out the area for suitable mast contacts. They were also sent to Rishikesh on the 26th, but returned disappointed, explaining that one good mast had left for some distant place.
Despite that, Baba rose early on Saturday morning, 27 July 1946 and left for Rishikesh with the mandali in a crowded public bus. It was monsoon season and the Ganges was flooded by the heavy rains. A number of sadhus were contacted in Rishikesh, but not even one was advanced. (As Adi noted in his diary: "Baba gets peeved because the trip serves no useful purpose.")
They returned to Hardwar, and Baba decided to proceed to Amritsar for further mast contacts. They boarded a train that evening and were surprised to find plenty of empty seats in a military compartment. But before the train left, the conductor came and told them to move to another compartment, as this one was reserved for military personnel only. The train was about to leave and the other compartments were already overcrowded. There were hardly half a dozen soldiers in the military compartment, and they had no objection to Baba's remaining, so they stayed where they were.