Abdur said, "That is the very same dream I had last night!"
On 15 January, the Master offered to explain to Khak Saheb and Ghani the current melancholy prevalent in the minds of the men:
In this Path, ordinarily one has to pass through three stages. The first stage consists of a keen interest and intense longing to know about and experience God, resulting in bright hopes and pleasant expectations. Then the second stage of disgust, disappointment, apathy and consequent suffering ensues. The third, but last stage is that of the Realization of God. At present, all in the mandali are in the second stage, which lasts quite a long time. Since it is inevitable, try to put up with it and pass through it cheerfully. Don't leave me for any reason.
During the evening of 16 January 1923, Ahmed Khan was supervising the marching of the mandali in the back compound. Ahmed had previously been in the army and, in smart military fashion, was shouting, "Left turn, hut! Right turn, ho!" The marching lasted for about an hour, and Ahmed made the men sweat like new recruits.
Afterward, Baba disclosed the reason for the strenuous exercising: "Today is Kakaji's daughter's birthday, and he has sent us a large quantity of rich food. To create an appetite and to digest such food requires exercise."
Baba's routine of ingesting food and water only once every 24 hours — in only a very small quantity — continued in January. He would also ask for raw tobacco, which he would chew day and night on an empty stomach. In the evening he would take a hot bath with numerous buckets of water. Ghani and Gustadji were near him during the nights and both remarked that he continually tossed about, scarcely sleeping. Despite this abnormal behavior, Baba remained more active and alert than anyone else at the Manzil and continuously supervised the premises.
The mandali had sold raffle tickets for Khak Saheb's car and the drawing was held at the Manzil on 28 January. The "lucky winner" was a Hindu named Satchitananda, one of the bhajan singers from Mahim (an area of Bombay).
When Ghani would be alone with the Master at night, he would often try to wend the conversation toward spiritual topics; or if he found Baba in a good mood, he would ask questions and try to induce Baba to give explanations about spirituality.