Much correspondence was arriving daily. Dattu was the main worker in the office with Adi; Waman Padale handled the outside work of running errands, messages, et cetera. Feram Workingboxwala had been staying at Akbar Press since the New Life, and he, too, assisted in office work during especially busy times, and also translated some of Baba's English messages into Gujarati. Every day, on Baba's way to and from Meherabad, he would visit Khushru Quarters to meet Adi's mother Gulmai, his sisters, Dolly and Piroja, and those working there. Being estranged and living like a recluse, Dolly would not come out to see Baba, but she would return to her room after seeing him from a distance, or Baba would visit with her in private.1 Baba also went to Akbar Press to visit the Satha and Damania families. They would stand by the road in the mornings and evenings, waiting for Baba's car to pass.
On that particular day, the 14th, when Baba visited Khushru Quarters, Rangole, the Thade families and others had come from Poona to see him. They had come for Baba's permission to marry, and Rangole was the first to ask.
Baba told him, "We will consult the alphabet board. I will spin it and if the letters land face up, marry; if not, then do not. Whatever the result will be my decision."
Baba twirled his board and the answer was that Rangole should not marry. At that, the others from Poona were afraid to ask and kept quiet. Rangole wanted to wed Subhadra, but she loved Madhusudan. She had recovered from her illness and was now quite healthy. Rangole understood Baba's decision and accepted it. He remained a lifelong bachelor.
Baba returned to Meherabad on Wednesday, 15 September 1954 at 9:00 A.M. He had individual interviews with the group of Western men until the afternoon. In his interview with Baba, Max Haefliger seemed troubled and confused, and spoke of things that had been disturbing him since he had been in India. At the time, the Swiss were generally very sober and undemonstrative; displaying one's feelings or devotion was something that was simply not done. It was considered gauche and uncultivated. So about the mass darshan at Wadia Park, for example, Max wrote to his wife Gisela, "It was terrible ... From time to time the masses started moving; they were ready to run over anyone to get prasad. It gave me the impression of herds of human animals." Max also did not feel as devoted as he thought he should be to attend the upcoming meetings.
Footnotes
- 1.Although Dolly appeared to be mast-like, she cooked and cared for her mother Gulmai and brother Adi.