Ghani's remarks evoked hearty laughter from the men, and Baba, too, seemed to enjoy the fun.
But while bidding good-night, he unexpectedly turned to Baidul and ordered, "Tomorrow morning, tea should be served at 4:45 A.M., fifteen minutes earlier."
The following morning, Baba again surprised everyone by referring to Ghani's remarks about the awkward time for morning tea, "I did not sleep the whole night. The spontaneous laughter of all concerned over Ghani's remarks set me thinking. I wondered if the remarks of Ghani regarding morning tea, and the support of it by your delightful laughter, were all to be taken as a joke, or were you serious about it?
"If it was all a joke, then I was wrong in not appreciating the humor. If he was serious, and if you think the order for morning tea is unnecessary and meaningless, then it is not only criticism, but the most flagrant violation of the conditions of the New Life!"
The companions were taken aback by this interpretation, which evidently had given Baba a sleepless night. They assured him that, although some of his orders were not always easily understandable, none of them considered them meaningless or unnecessary. Baba then dismissed the previous night's episode as a joke, and the tension relaxed immediately.
But Baba had doubted the companions' intentions, and so, as an atonement, he ordered some of the companions to twist his ears, after which he remarked, "One sleepless night is worth the satisfaction that I now feel for the sake of the clarification of your mind and feelings."
Ghani, who had instigated the entire episode, was ordered to kick Baba. At first, all the pent-up feelings of hardships and humiliations Ghani had endured welled up in him, and it looked as if he would give Baba a very hard kick. But when he came close to Baba, he barely tapped him.
Baba asked the reason, saying, "This was a good chance for you to settle all the old scores. You could have brought out all the displeasure contained in your heart."
Ghani replied, "I did intend to kick you very hard, but then I remembered that you are my childhood friend, and I forgave you."
Baba was to go begging for the first time to Dr. Nath's house on Thursday, 24 November 1949.1 As soon as he came to the companions that morning at seven o'clock, he ordered them to go wash their feet. On their return, he touched their feet with his hands and then touched his forehead. He directed Ghani to read out this prayer, which he had dictated two days before:
Today, the 24th of November, is a very significant day for me in the New Life. I ask the most merciful God to forgive me and my companions for any shortcomings and any conscious and unconscious mistakes done singly or wholly or toward each other, or personally or impersonally, relating to the conditions or otherwise, as also for any lusty, angry, greedy or Old Life thought or desire.
I ask God to give full strength to me and to my companions to stick to the oaths and conditions 100 percent, because He, the All-knowing, knows that from January 1, 1950, there has to be no compromise whatsoever for me and my companions in relation to our oaths and conditions.
Footnotes
- 1.The same day Baba began his begging was celebrated as Thanksgiving in America that year.