To get rid of the spirit, Nilu suggested, "Chilies and hair should be burned over charcoal and the smoke should be spread throughout the bungalow." Baba accepted his suggestion and told him to put the burning coals in a small stove and carry it around the house seven times, chanting: "Chhoo, chhoo, chhoo!" Nilu did accordingly, but due to the burning chilies, his eyes teared and he was coughing as he uttered: "Chhoo, chhoo, chhoo!" Baba was greatly amused by the ridiculousness of his plight.
The standing instructions for Baba's night watchman were for him to remain seated outside Baba's room and to enter when he heard Baba's clap. Krishna never saw the spirit, but he did hear a woman laughing. He asked Baba if he could come inside when he heard the laughter.
Baba stated, "No," and told him not to remain seated outside, either. "Go in the next room and close the door," Baba said. "Don't come out until I clap. Otherwise, something terrible will happen. If you come inside when the ghost is laughing, it will kill you."
When Krishna heard laughing, he went into a nearby room and locked the door. He sat there for an hour and a quarter before he heard Baba clap. When he came to Baba's room, Baba was washing his face.
Baba told him to sit down and he commented, "The work is finished."
Nothing was heard of the ghost again.
As instructed by Baba, everyone had to keep awake the entire night of Thursday, 20 August 1953.
So Baba told Bhau, "Since all have to stay awake, perform a play."
It was on short notice, but nevertheless Bhau wrote a play based on the Indian story of Durgadas, in which a queen, Begum Gulnar (played by Elcha, dressed as a woman), expresses her love to Durgadas (Vishnu) by catching hold of him and attempting to seduce him. Durgadas spurns her love and she, insulted, threatens to have him beheaded by an executioner (Aloba). The commander of the army, Diler Khan (Nilu), wants to save him and so informs Gulnar's husband, King Aurangzeb (Bhau) of the queen's misbehavior. Aurangzeb goes to his queen and tells her: "Darling, I have become old and cannot make love to you; yet you should not act in this way. In spite of it, I forgive you."1
All the men did justice to their roles, but Elcha and Aloba were the source of the greatest merriment. Aloba's entry on stage as the executioner was off cue, his sword swinging ferociously at the wrong time. Baba was in fits of laughter.
Footnotes
- 1.Veer Durgadas Rathore (1638–1718) is a famous Marwar Rajput king. Bhau had taken the lead as Durgadas in a college production of the play.