Turning around, he saw it was Baba.
"What are you doing?" Baba gestured.
"This rascal pinched Rs.20 from my pocket!" Eruch responded.
Baba looked at the man.
"Did you do that?" He caught hold of his earlobe (the usual punishment for children) and, pinching it, warned him, "Never, never do that again!"
Baba turned back to Eruch and motioned, "Give him back the money. It is meant for those who need it. Had he not needed it, why would he have stolen it?"
Eruch hesitated, but Baba repeated, "Go on, give it to him!"
Prasananand then sent for Baba. The Brahmin had succeeded in inducing the Swami to grant the contact while this confusion was going on outside. Baba went in and communed with him. It had been a satisfactory contact and Baba was in a good mood.
On the 16 th in Madras, Baba worked with another advanced soul known as Ramdas Swami , and after that made the return journey by train to Dhond. Adi Sr. met the party in Dhond on 19 August and drove them to Ahmednagar.
The 22nd of August 1948 was another early morning "movie day" at Sarosh Cinema. Two films were shown. On the 24th, Baba sent a delegation of men and women mandali to Ramjoo's daughter Jibboo's wedding at her parent's home in Ahmednagar. Baba had approved the match the previous March.1 The next day, he went to Happy Valley with Ramjoo and his sister-in-law Haja. On the 26th, a qawaali program was held on Meherabad Hill in honor of the marriage. Baba came to Meherabad with the women at 7:30 that morning and stayed the entire day. The singing led by Narsingrao Qawaal was held from 4:30 to 7:00 that evening, after which Baba returned to Ahmednagar. Eruch and his family came from Poona, and Meherjee and Alu Khambatta also attended.
The next day, Friday, 27 August 1948, the housewarming ceremony for Meher Baba's new home at Pimpalgaon was held at nine o'clock in the morning. Close lovers from Bombay, Poona and Ahmednagar assembled there, including Roda and Jimmy Mistry, who had been honeymooning in Poona when they received Baba's telegram to come. Jimmy became completely Baba's upon seeing him. Nariman and Arnavaz were to have a close connection with the Pimpalgaon estate in years to come. They too had been invited and had come a few days beforehand. Dr. Deshmukh would never miss such a chance to be with Baba, and he was present with his wife Indumati.
Footnotes
- 1.For his own reasons, Baba ordered Ramjoo not to invite any of his friends or relatives outside of Ahmednagar, nor to accept any wedding gifts, but to inform them that Baba was sending them his blessings. Ramjoo therefore sent a note to those concerned: "For reasons explained in the accompanying order from my Murshad Meher Baba, I beg to be excused for my inability to have the pleasure of your company or any present on and for the occasion. It is just like my Master to send his blessings to all those whom I would have otherwise loved to be present at the function."