This suffering for the world was yet to come, the women surmised. Seeing Baba weep was an unusual occurrence. Never before had the women witnessed Baba like this.
The severe bouts of pain continued, and on the 17th, Baba had fever. Two days later, on 19 December, Don brought an orthopedic surgeon from the military hospital named Dr. Samarendra Chandra Chatterjee, who began treating Baba. Chatterjee was 38 years old and a colonel in the army. Baba liked Dr. Chatterjee very much and Dr. Bansod's treatment was stopped.1 Chatterjee had more X-rays taken (by an army major nicknamed by Baba Kaka [Uncle] Souri ), and had the traction removed, putting Baba's leg in a Thomas' splint for two days. On the evening of the 23rd, this splint was also removed and Baba was much more comfortable with his leg free of any encumbrances.
On 22 December, an English woman named Dinah Day and an Irish woman named Jean Nix, one of whom had heard of Baba but never seen him, were allowed to come and meet him. The girls had hitchhiked from England, overland through Iran, and were traveling in India. Adi had met them in Ahmednagar and given them Baba's address. After spending the night at Bindra House, they departed for Madras. Although these two girls never had any further contact with Baba, they were the first among many young Westerners who would soon come into the Beloved's orbit.
Just after midnight on 19/20 December 1956, the saint Gadge Maharaj died on his way to Amraoti. And, as hinted by Baba, seven days later, on the 27th of December, the mast Ali Shah passed away in Meherabad at 4:15 P.M.2 Two of Baba's favorites had passed on.
Don rigged up a special kind of cot for Baba, to which Baba was moved on the 23rd. The bed was built to enable Baba to lift up his body by clutching two hanging straps, which gave him a little exercise. It proved much more comfortable for him, as he was not yet allowed to turn on his side, which added to his discomfort. Mani described the bed in a letter to Don Stevens (dated 4 January 1957): "There are all sorts of pulleys and gadgets on the new bed, and I just love to watch Baba 'showing off' (like a schoolboy on his first bike ride) how he can partly lift himself up on one of the 'swings' when his back needs attending to."
From the morning of the 24 December, the pain in Baba's leg diminished considerably; he was also able to sit up for a few minutes at a time, and bend his injured leg slowly. The other usual pains and discomforts continued, along with an occasional low fever.
As Bhau wrote to Jagindar Singh (on 31 December), "Now Baba's leg is free, kept between sandbags to avoid jerks. Though Baba looks much improved, he often complains of pain in one part or another. As usual, he looks very cheerful sometimes, as if nothing has happened to him; and then, at other times, he looks in great pain."
Adi Sr. and Don came at 9:00 A.M. on Saturday, 5 January 1957 and delivered the crutches and folding wheelchair Baba had used after his first accident, and also a large carpet from Meherazad sent by Kaka. Baba was sitting up in bed against a backrest, his legs outstretched. He gave Adi instructions for three programs for the poor that he wished to be held in February. Adi was also told to see Sadhu Vaswani in Poona and to go to Sakori with certain messages for Godavri Mai, who had been invited to attend the sahavas program. Gadekar was permitted to see Baba on the 6th.
Footnotes
- 1.Dr. Bansod's fees were also found to be too expensive.
- 2.Ali Shah was buried at lower Meherabad, near the dhuni. According to Baba's instructions, all Muslim rites had been carried out for the mast, at Baba's expense.