Eruch had gone to Poona for about a week and returned to Satara the day before the poor program. While in Poona, he received this telegram from Mani: "See Sant Vaswani. Tell him all about Baba and say he is one of Baba's beloved, precious children." Accordingly, Eruch met Sadhu Vaswani on the evening of the 4th at 7:30 P.M., and told him about Meher Baba. Sadhu Vaswani was extremely happy to hear that Baba had remembered him and that he had sent his love. He asked Eruch to convey his heartfelt invitation to Baba to visit his school in Poona, and Eruch assured him that he would convey the message to Baba.
Eruch had likewise once been sent to Ganeshpuri in Gujarat to convey Baba's message to Saint Nityananda, and also to Bombay to deliver the same message to Mangharam Mirchandani, a bogus saint.1 Mirchandani had come to India from Pakistan after Partition and was thought to be a saint, but he was deceiving innocent people. He had been the chief speaker during a recent celebration of Baba's birthday in Bombay. But when Eruch conveyed Baba's message — to the effect that "all advanced souls are Baba's beloved children, the rivers flowing into the Ocean which he is" — Mirchandani reacted angrily and began vilifying Baba terribly. When Eruch reported this, however, Baba was not upset by the abuse of this so-called saint. He had his own reasons for contacting Mirchandani.
On Friday, 7 September 1956, Baba left Satara in Nariman's car, along with Pendu, Nilu, Baidul, Bhau and Eruch, for a four-day mast trip to Hyderabad and surrounding places. At Nalgonda, Baba gestured to Eruch (who was driving) to stop at a small roadside tea stall. Eruch went in to ask the proprietor to prepare good tea and saw to it that the cups were thoroughly washed.
Bhau was standing near the open car door by Baba, who remained seated in the car. After a little while, Baba gestured to Bhau to go see if the tea was ready and bring it to him. Bhau brought it, and Baba poured the tea from his cup into his saucer and began to drink it. Baba gestured something with his right hand which held the cup. As Baba's fingers were partially blocked by the saucer, Bhau could not read his handsigns.
A boy, who was sitting nearby on the ground under a tree, kept staring at Baba. Baba would also gaze at him. Baba kept gesturing, but Bhau was at a loss to understand him. "Do you want sugar, Baba?" Baba shook his head no.
Footnotes
- 1.Nityananda was a genuine mental conscious saint whom Baba named as one of his seven "beloved children."