"Baba, what refreshments should I arrange for you?" he asked.
" Sev-ganthia ," Baba replied.
(A poor man's diet of fried chickpeas.) Minoo had other eatables in his quarters but no sev-ganthia, which is only available in Gujarat and the Bombay area.
"I have come to see you ," Baba smiled, "not for food or drink. I have to leave immediately."
Baba asked about his wife, Bapai, and their daughter, Meher, reminding him, "Don't forget, Meher is mine, not yours. Don't worry about her; my nazar is on her."
Baba and the mandali traveled on to Suraj Kund, where, at the samadhis of Anand Nath and Manohar Nath a local priest was called to offer prayers. After the priest chanted some verses in Sanskrit, Baba, Baidul and Gustadji bowed down at the tombs.
On his return to Meerut, Baba worked with the fifth-plane chargeman of the city, Meherban Baba, with whom he had worked seven years before. The humble mast was feeding a cat when Baba approached his small hut. Although he refused even to stretch his feet outside the hut, he did accept some money Baba offered him. When Baba bowed to him from a distance, the mast muttered, speaking in Persian: "I said; I saw."
Then, speaking in beautiful Hindi, he repeated softly three times: "Only the fortunate ones shall know what a fortune it is to see him!"
Traveling on, Baba next paid his respects at the dargahs of the Muslim saints Shah Pir and Makhdum Ali Shah.
It was late afternoon by then, and they proceeded to Delhi. They reached Delhi by five o'clock and stayed at Was Deo Kain's residence. Baba mentioned that he wished to visit different dargahs and samadhis in Delhi before retiring that evening, but later changed the time to four the next morning.
As planned, after paying his respects at several well-known dargahs in the city, Baba went to the samadhi of Teg Bahadur. The priest there was given some money and was asked to offer a prayer for the successful completion of Baba's four-month-long work. Not knowing who Baba was, the priest added to his prayer, "And may God bless him with a child also."
The men smiled at the man's remark, and while leaving, Baba joked, "I already have an infinite number of children. It's hard enough to look after them!"
After lunch, Baba visited several more shrines and places of worship in Delhi.
Allowing Kain to accompany them, Baba and the group left Delhi on Sunday, 13 September 1953 for Panipat, where he visited the dargah of the Qutub Buali Shah Qalander.1 While returning, Baba walked through the town's bazaar, where Hellan was supposed to have brought the car. But he had not properly followed Baba's directions, and Kumar went to look for him in a rickshaw. Meanwhile someone said that Panipat was famous for a certain type of sweets, and Baba permitted them to purchase some. It was still early and most of the shops were closed, but they managed to find some and took it to Baba, who had remained in the car. Baba distributed the sweets and had some himself
Footnotes
- 1.Baba had previously contacted a mast at this dargah, in 1942.