Adi liked what he saw at the studio and fixed a price of Rs.16,000 for a life-sized bronze statue of Baba seated in a chair. With Baba's permission, Talim's son/assistant Harish, 34, came to Ashiana that day and took some measurements of Baba's face. A few days later, a pair of Baba's pants and a sadra were sent from Meherazad and given to Talim, so that the proportions of the figure would be accurate.1
When Baba had reached Ashiana on the 8th, he told Bhau, "Despite whatever I may tell you, eat your meals to the fullest."
Bhau did not completely understand what Baba meant, but he said he would. He was only eating one meal a day, as he had to be on watch near Baba from early in the evening until midnight. Eruch, too, would eat only once a day.
The first night, Baba remarked, "Plenty of good food will be available at Ashiana during our stay, so drink only one cup of tea in the morning [at Rupamai's] and then come here to eat."
At midnight, Bhau had to trudge almost a mile and a half to Rupamai's, and then return to Ashiana by seven o'clock in the morning.
The next afternoon, when everyone was seated for lunch, Baba sat next to Bhau and asked, "How much are you eating? Your plate is overflowing! Are you a giant? If you eat all this, what will be left for the others?"
Addressing the mandali he continued, "Look how much Bhau eats! What kind of manners does he have?"
Baba went on belittling Bhau in front of the others until lunch was over, and Bhau felt very upset about it. Baba's taunts about Bhau's gargantuan appetite became a daily ritual at lunchtime, so Bhau began taking only one slice of bread. Twenty days passed like this, but Baba did not let up for a single day, teasing and harassing Bhau whenever he sat down for lunch. Each day, Baba would come and sit next to him, and unleash a string of comments and criticisms about him and his appetite.
As lunchtime would approach each day, Bhau began to feel nervous, and would while away some time by pretending to have to go to the toilet, coming back to the table only long enough to consume his solitary piece of bread. But Baba would not leave him alone.
Footnotes
- 1.Talim first made a clay-model head study of Baba, which Adi Sr. saw on 1 November 1957 and made some suggestions.