He then ordered, "Find Rambhau and bring him within half an hour or else you will have to pack your things and leave!"
Bhau rode a bicycle and searched up and down the roads, but he could not find Rambhau. Frightened and dejected, he returned empty-handed. Baba was still fuming. Baba sent him out again with Pendu in the car, but they could not locate the mast.
Rambhau had disappeared. Bhau stood guiltily before Baba, feeling the ground slipping out from under his feet.
At last, Baba ordered him, "Now, go out on foot. Find the mast and come back with him within five minutes. Otherwise, you will not be allowed to remain here."
Bhau left and saw Rambhau walking on the road back to the bungalow! Bhau felt a profound relief at seeing him.
He took him to Baba immediately, who asked, "Where did you find him?"
"On the road."
"The mast never left before, how is it he wandered off today?"
"It is truly surprising," Bhau said. "I looked for him on the road in all directions, but could not find him anywhere. I do not know where he was or how he happened to be coming back."
Baba replied, "You did not pay proper attention to my warnings, and that is why he left. Let this be a lesson to you."
It was later learned that Rambhau had hidden himself in a public urinal, and when Baba had sent Bhau out again to search for him, Rambhau had just stepped back onto the road.
On Saturday, 1 September 1956, Baba's one-year seclusion was at its height. All correspondence had been completely stopped, and all out-of-town lovers strictly forbidden to come to Satara. Throughout that entire day, Baba remained without water. But things did not go smoothly, as Mani described (in a letter to Bill Le Page): "On the 1st, maya was working pretty hard, too, and everything that could possibly go wrong seemed to do so. At the end of the day, Baba explained it was because of his special work he had begun on that day, and opposing maya was at her best (or do I mean worst)."
From the 2nd to the 5th, Baba worked in seclusion with Kaikobad in Judge's Bungalow from 8:00 to 11:00 A.M. and, if necessary, from 3:00 to 5:00 P.M. daily.
On 6 September, in the same bungalow, Baba washed and laid his head on the feet of 200 poor boys, served them rawa and handed each a piece of cloth for a shirt. The expenses for the poor program were a gift to Baba from Irene Conybeare. Fifty additional children came and they too were given sweetmeats as prasad.1
Footnotes
- 1.That day happened to be Khordad Sal (Zoroaster's birthday).