On the morning of the 24th, Baba sent for Mehera and Mani for a short time.
At the top of the hill, he informed them, "I have complete satisfaction with my work, but maya is creating hindrances."
Baba's cabin, too, had begun leaking, so Baba stated he would stay below at Meherazad for the next two days.
At four in the afternoon, Baba came down the hill and remained in a room at Meherazad. In the meantime, instructions were given to repair his two cabins and the companions' temporary shed. The shed also had to be moved, as it had been built too close to his cabin, and consequently disturbed his seclusion work. The four companions remained on the hill throughout the period of the repair work.
On 26 November, Baba conveyed to Mehera and Mani, "My 40-days' work has been completely successful, but the remaining 80 days of work is of utmost significance."
The next day, Baba resumed his seclusion in his cabin on "Manonash Hill," as it was being called, and the four men kept watch in shifts. Baba would work in the "lower" cabin during the day, and stay in the "upper" cabin at night.
Padri, who was sometimes called for work, took a film of Baba during his seclusion. He had borrowed Rustom Kaka's 16mm camera on the 27th. One day, with Baba's permission, he shot about three minutes of black-and-white film of Baba on the hill. When Padri later viewed the film, he said it came out magnificently. "There was one close-up shot of Baba brushing away his hair from his forehead as the wind blew it. It was really breathtaking," Padri related later. After Baba's seclusion work, Padri handed the film to him. Baba tucked it into his coat pocket, and that was the last Padri ever saw of it! It is still missing.
From Saturday, 1 December 1951, Baba fasted for four days only on water, and then for three days more on liquids.
At one point, he remarked, "I feel that I am dying every moment. I die and die badly!"
Baba sent Baidul to bring a good mast. He returned on the 6th with Pathan Baba , a great fifth-plane mast from Thana.1 Leaving his seclusion cabin on the hill, Baba came down to Meherazad that day. He stayed aloof in a room opposite the New Life Caravan (which later became Bhau's room), where he concentrated intensely on his Manonash work, and daily worked with Pathan Baba for two weeks.
Footnotes
- 1.Baba had contacted Pathan Baba previously in 1948 in Bombay.