Bhau said, "We won't be able to find them that way. Only registered letters can be traced."
"Nevertheless, go and inquire. The letters are urgent and very important."
The post office was two and a half miles from Grafton. Bhau rode on a bicycle there and approached the postmaster. The postmaster asked whether the letters were registered. Bhau shook his head no. The postmaster questioned, "Then how can you be sure when they were mailed from America?"
"The letters should have come a week ago," Bhau said, "but we haven't received them. The sender has never delayed in replying, and so it seems, they are lost."
"I am sorry, but we cannot do anything for you."
Bhau came back and told Baba.
With obvious displeasure Baba said, "Go back and tell him that the letters were of the utmost importance, and he should at least attempt to trace them!"
Bhau went again to the postmaster, who became very upset. He shouted, "What is this nonsense you are talking about? I am a very busy man. If the letters are so important, send a telegram and inquire whether they were dispatched. We are not responsible for delivery of ordinary mail. Please leave!"
Bhau went back, and after listening to him, Baba replied, "Go and tell the postmaster that the communications were definitely mailed from America, but we have not received them, and they are very, very important."
Bhau hesitated, because the postmaster was an important official, and he felt foolish to keep pestering him like this when what the man had told him was reasonable.
Baba gestured angrily, "Is he such a big man? Well, I am telling you to go and request him to look for those letters."
Bhau then understood that, whether the man was important or not, Baba's orders were paramount.
Bhau left, and seeing him again in his office, the postmaster was naturally vexed. He told him to leave at once. "I have no time to talk with you," he said irritably. Bhau stood there quietly, but the man ignored him and went on working. Five minutes later, he raised his head and, looking at Bhau, asked, "Why in God's name are you still here?"
In a beseeching tone, Bhau pleaded, "Sir, the letters are most important, and that is why I keep coming back to you."