Baba also went to see a bungalow in Satara, since he intended to shift his headquarters there in the near future. Sarosh met them there on the 11th and arranged to rent it. Soon after, they left for Belgaum, where Vishwanath Haldankar had been instructed to look for bungalows. Baba returned to Mahabaleshwar on the 16th. Pendu was ordered to bring furniture to Satara from Meherabad, and did so two days later.
Meanwhile, in Baba's absence, Upper Meherabad had been vandalized. A gang of thieves had broken into the Dome (the Tomb), displaced files, books and Baba's mattress, and had also broken into his Tin Cabin. Baba sent Pendu a letter on 20 May, ordering him to increase the number of night watchmen on the hill and added,
"If anything again happens on the hill, Meherabad will be doomed!"
Dr. Ghani was staying with Baba in Mahabaleshwar. He was joking with Baba on 22 May 1947 and, when he said something in a lighter vein about Baba, Baba at once composed this rhyme about himself, titled later "Baba is Fire!":
When you feel cold
And sit near the fire,
It drives out your cold
And makes you perspire.
When you feel hungry
And cook on the fire,
It gives you your food
For which you aspire.
But if you, like a fool,
Try to play with the fire,
It may burn you so badly
That would make hell admire.
Over the years, much that Baba revealed about spirituality is owed to Dr. Ghani. It was because of Ghani that so many interesting explanations came from the Master. Whenever Ghani was eager to hear a discourse or explanation from Baba, he would say something in jest, or somewhat sarcastically, to goad Baba into giving a talk — producing such gems as the poem above.
Ghani's nephew, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, sixteen, had met Baba when Baba was visiting Lonavla in 1938. Rashid's mother died in 1947, and Ghani informed Baba, who called the boy to Mahabaleshwar to discuss his future. Baba took the young man under his wing and Rashid was sent to live at Meherabad, where he remained for two years under Baba's personal supervision and in intimate contact with the mandali.