Baba sat down and instructed Eruch to go bring his other clothes from the bungalow.
Eruch protested, "How can I leave you here alone?"
But Baba insisted, "Don't think about it; go and bring a change of clothes for me."1
Eruch returned to the dak bungalow and asked Goher for clothes for Baba. "Where's Baba?" she asked.
Thinking quickly, Eruch replied, "With the mast."
Eruch brought the clothes, and Baba changed into them behind a bush. He instructed Eruch to wash his dirty clothes and hang them in the sun to dry, so that when he would give them to Goher, she would not be suspicious. They then went to Lala Mast's isolated hut, and Baba was pleased with the contact.
After spending a few days at a rest house in Amboli, Baba returned to Poona on 28 February 1949 with Eruch, Vishnu and the women, and proceeded to Bombay with Mehera, Mani, Meheru and Goher. They were driven there by Adi Sr., and Eruch accompanied them, while Vishnu, Manu and Katie remained in Poona. The women stayed at Nariman and Arnavaz's apartment, and Baba, Adi Sr. and Eruch went to Meherjee's, where Baba met Pappa Jessawala and heard his account of the difficulties he faced in disposing of the Byramangala property.
That night, Baba left for Mount Abu by train with Eruch and the women. They arrived on 1 March, and joined Jalbhai, Baidul, Gustadji and Don, who were already there. Upon Baba's arrival in Mount Abu, an extensive mast tour was chalked out.
For some reason, Baba had taken all of the trunks, boxes and tins containing the "mast treasures" with him to Mount Abu, and they remained there in his room during this stay. For the next two and a half months, Baba was continuously on the move contacting masts. His efforts were particularly strenuous, perhaps in view of the "earthquake" which was to strike the mandali in August of 1949. It was as if Baba were trying to finish off this phase of his Universal work before beginning a new one.
Baba's work with masts began a week after his arrival in Mount Abu. Baba left on Monday, 7 March 1949, with Baidul, Eruch and Gustadji. They traveled to Ajmer and from there to Taragarh Hill. Chacha was brought in a closed litter from Ajmer to Taragarh Fort on the 8th. Baba kept Chacha near him for eight hours, working with him alone, feeding him and offering him tea and cigarettes.
Footnotes
- 1.This is one of the rare occasions when Meher Baba was actually left alone (for more than a few minutes) with none of the mandali near him physically.