Finally, one day Bhau got exasperated. He said to Baba, "From tomorrow, I will not come for food. Give me only eight annas [50 paisa] a day, and I will make my own [food] arrangements outside. For the past three weeks, I have been living on one piece of bread, and still you do not leave me alone and keep taunting me that I eat like a giant!"
Baba replied, "What a fool you are! The very first day, I told you that despite what I say, you should have your fill. Isn't that so? But you disobeyed me. You broke my order. And every day, when you were breaking my order by not eating, you were breaking my heart! How hurt I felt when you would not eat well."
Bhau realized his mistake and started eating regularly. Baba continued to taunt him, but was pleased that Bhau now ate in spite of it.
The story does not end here. Six months later, when Baba was again staying at Ganeshkhind in Poona, several Bombay and Poona lovers were called. At lunch, everyone sat down to eat and Baba also took a chair opposite Bhau.
In the presence of all, he asked Bhau, "How is it that you eat like a giant? If you do so, others will go hungry!"
Bhau acted as if he did not hear him and continued eating, whereupon, Baba commented, "See how shameless this fellow is! I tell him he takes too much food, yet he goes on stuffing his mouth. This is the height of brazenness."
Those present glared at Bhau, but in obedience to Baba, he kept on eating. Baba kept criticizing him, and Sorabji Siganporia looked at Bhau, puzzled by his actions. What could Bhau say? The fact was that by eating once a day, his intake was comparatively less than the others.
Baba left after the meal was over, and the guests asked Bhau, "You are one of the mandali; how can you disobey Baba?"
"I was very hungry," Bhau replied.
"But it was Baba's wish that you should not eat. Would it have killed you to miss one meal? When you cannot do such a small thing, how can you serve Baba properly?"
Laughing, Bhau replied, "I serve only my stomach, and despite how it appears, it really is not against Baba's wish."
In the evening when he went to Baba, Baba embraced him and said, "Today, I am very happy with you. You obeyed me 100 percent in spite of being humiliated."