Sitting down on the dusty ground under a tree, Baba asked Gadekar to lead them in the Marathi arti. Gadekar did so, and Baba next told him to sing the Gujarati arti. Gadekar could not sing it properly because he, like the majority of those who had followed Baba out of the hall, had gone barefooted. The fields and barren tracts of land were strewn with thorns and sharp "spear grass" which had pierced their feet, and Gadekar had trouble standing. Baba had not allowed them to remove the thorns but had asked for one arti after another — and seemed to enjoy their faltering and fumbling during the second arti the most. Baba immediately left the place and, crossing a field, sat down beneath another tree. The sahavas group picked up more thorns while walking, but even these were love's remembrance for them as they were soon to depart from Meherabad and the thorns were a means of remembering their Lord.
With much difficulty, Gadekar sang the Gujarati arti, and Baba urged the sahavas group: "Take me with you and keep me with you always!"
Many shed tears, and with a final roving glance at each, Baba took his seat in the car, which sped toward Meherazad at 4:45 P.M.
Deeply moved, the gathering stood for some time gazing at the vanishing car. The mandali had to remind them to begin preparing for their departure. The buses were ready to carry them to the station and were being loaded with their luggage. They were to have supper before leaving, but saddened by their impending separation from the Divine Beloved, they could not eat and left for their destinations without food. Most of the Marathi sahavas group left that day, and the rest the following morning.
Baba remarked to the mandali, "I will not have such a sahavas gathering again. Their sorrow at parting is too difficult for me to witness."
Meanwhile, the mast Kuttawala was brought back to Meherabad from Ahmednagar, and was provided with milk and food for his new "pets."
Baba was not supposed to come to Meherabad on Saturday, 3 December 1955, but he came purposely at 8:00 A.M. to see Kuttawala. The mast was waiting for him, and as soon as he saw Baba in his room, he threw himself full length on the floor at his feet. Lifting him, Baba made him sit by his side on the couch and embraced him. The old mast wept. Baba instructed Sherlekar to accompany the mast back to Nagpur on the noon train.