He did his special important seclusion work in May, June and July. I am the luckiest person, because during this phase of work of Baba, I was very close and near him. At that time he was simply glowing and emanating power, eyes brilliant and dancing. He was looking marvelous and wonderful. At present he is also busy with his own peculiar type of work, which I can't describe. I feel, I experience the immense power that is radiating from him. In his presence and association one forgets oneself and feels the power of his divine love and a sort of contentment and happiness. But it all depends on his will and wish.
On Wednesday, 1 June 1955, Baba left Satara early in the morning for Mahabaleshwar in Meherjee's new car, for a picnic with Mehera, Mani, Goher, Rano, Naja and Meheru. They returned to Satara the same evening.
The next day, Baba set out at 7:00 P.M. with Eruch, Baidul, Kumar and Meherjee, for mast contacts in Islampur, Kolhapur, Savantwadi, Belgaum and Hubli.
Reaching Savantwadi at 2:00 A.M., Baba instructed Baidul, "Awaken the headman of the village here and inquire if there is any mast in this place."
The man was sleeping in a large room. Baidul woke him, asked the question, and the man, without getting displeased for having been roused in the middle of the night, gave the name of a mast. They then went to have tea in a restaurant. It was closed. The proprietor was awakened, and he prepared tea for them. Both the headman and the restaurant owner were fortunate to be awakened at such a late hour, as they had Baba's indirect contact. After contacting the mast of Savantwadi, Baba drove on to Hubli, reaching it at 4:00 A.M.1 After traveling continuously for 460 miles to different places to contact masts, Baba and the men returned to Satara on the 3rd at 6:00 P.M.
The next day, at 5:00 P.M., Baba, accompanied by Eruch, Baidul, Kumar and Bhau, again left in Meherjee's car for Savantwadi, where he contacted a mast at 1:30 A.M. He then recontacted the masts in Islampur and Kolhapur, and drove back to Satara at 1:00 PM. on the 5th, having traveled 430 miles in 20 hours. "Baba and the men looked exhausted when they returned," Mani noted in a letter written at the time.
Footnotes
- 1.Eruch was driving and he and some of the other mandali were given Methadrine tablets to stay awake. During a similar mast trip, Eruch was so exhausted that he stopped the car on the side of the road and told Baba he was afraid he would fall asleep at the wheel. Baba told him to put his head on his (Baba's) shoulder and sleep for a little while. Eruch fell into a deep slumber. (Saliva actually dripped from his mouth onto Baba.) Eruch woke up refreshed and was amazed when looked at his watch and saw that only three minutes had passed!