From Wednesday, 8 June 1955, Baba continued his seclusion in Jal Villa, working with Kaikobad.
One day he said, "The burden of the work I'm doing for the universe is too great. We should have some recreation — we should play cricket!"
So Baba sent Eruch and Pendu to find a site for the mandali to play a cricket match.
Eruch and Pendu selected a place in Udtara, thirteen miles from Satara.1 Baba was taken to view the spot and approved it (after he had rejected several other ones). Pendu was ordered to prepare the grounds by having the area leveled and rolled. Several close male followers were called for the match, which was to be played on the 19th.
On the evening of 15 June, leaving directly from Jal Villa, Baba was driven in the Vauxhall to Islampur and Kolhapur, to contact the same masts again. Accompanying Baba were Eruch, Baidul, Bhau and Kumar. While traveling, Kumar would tell amusing stories, which kept all awake, despite the continual night-and-day journeying. Completing his mast work, Baba returned to Satara at 2:00 P.M. the following day, and decided to stay in Grafton.
On Saturday, 18 June, the following men arrived in Satara for the cricket match: Adi Sr., Padri, Chhagan, Dhake, Sidhu, Kaka, Meherjee, Nariman, Sarosh, Sadashiv Patil, Meherwan Jessawala, Jangoo R. Irani, Dadi Kerawala, and Baba's brothers Jalbhai, Beheram and Adi Jr. arrived in Satara for the cricket match. They stayed at a dak bungalow near Rosewood. Baba met a few of the early arrivals that afternoon.
Early the next morning, Eruch drove Baba in Meherjee's car to Udtara, a distance of twelve miles. There they met with this group and the mandali residing at Satara. Baba played cricket with the men (using a rubber ball), on the grounds that Baba had approved, under some mango trees adjoining an Inspection Bungalow. He was in a most pleasant mood. The cricket match was played unusually seriously for a game with Baba, according to his instructions. There were ten players on each side, and Baba, being the eleventh of each team, played on both sides. Nariman and Sarosh were the captains, but Baba selected each team.
During the half-time, they had refreshments under the shade of a mango tree.
At the end of the match at 11:00 A.M., the score was equal. Baba led them back to the rest house and handed out snacks, which Nariman had brought from Bombay, and also small cash prizes to some for outstanding play.
Baba observed: "Due to the self [ego], everything has an existence. When the self is got rid of, then everything disappears. Has any one of you understood the meaning or experienced it? Not one! Only a rare one experiences it."
Footnotes
- 1.Current spelling is Udtare.