On Friday, 11 November 1949, the packing was completed,
and on the evening of the 12th, Baba and the men and women companions left
Belgaum for Poona by train. The women occupied a first class coach, while Baba
and the men traveled third class. Pendu and Baidul preceded them with the
luggage.
On 13 November, they reached Poona at around 6:15 in the
morning. From there, Baba sent Pendu and Baidul to Bombay to make train
reservations for Benares. Baba, with the companions, remained at the Poona
station platform. Gadekar and Habibullah E. Hakim were seen there.1 However, when
the companions ignored them, they walked away.
Nilu needed to use the toilet and availed himself of one
nearby, on a local train that was stationary. But when the train began moving
out of the station, he panicked, and without even buttoning his trousers, leapt
off and landed on his bottom. The men had a hearty laugh when Nilu described the
scene. When Baba was told about it, he also enjoyed the humor of the
incident.
Baba took an hour's stroll around Poona with Nilu and
Ghani by his side. Leaving Poona at 12:50 P.M., they arrived in Bombay at 6:30
that evening. Pendu and Baidul had made first class reservations for the women. Baba occupied the servants' compartment with seven of the men, while the
others traveled in another coach.
In the early hours of 15 November, they reached Mughal
Sarai station at 2:30 A.M. via the Calcutta Mail train and were met by Sadashiv
Patil. At Mughal Sarai station they had to change trains for Benares, but when
it came time to transfer everything to the other train, the companions had to
run back and forth to unload the baggage, leaving Baba standing alone with part
of the luggage. Baba was irritated, and took them to task for leaving him
unattended.
He then criticized himself, "I got angry, which is not good.
So, each of you pinch my ears and slap me once."
The men carried out the
behest. Afterwards, when Baba had calmed, they had tea with him.
The weather was extremely cold, and all were shivering. They left Mughal Sarai at 3:30 A.M. and arrived at Benares station an hour
later. Babadas was waiting on the platform, and when Baba got down, Babadas
informed him that Dr. Nath had been waiting at the station with his wife since
four o'clock.
Footnotes
- 1.Habibullah Hakim was the secretary of the Poona Sufi Circle, for which Dr. Ghani was president.