They would name several dishes, and Baba would inquire, "Do you want to drive Dorabjee bankrupt? How could you have so many items for only two rupees?"
Shinde, Pote and Dhavle would each lay the blame on Kamble.
This went on for some time, and one day, calling Dorabjee, Baba instructed him, "Tomorrow Shinde, Kamble, Pote and Dhavle will come to eat at your hotel. Serve only Kamble. Take two rupees from each in advance, but don't serve the other men any food. Tell them fresh food is being prepared and they should wait. Then give them water. After ten minutes, give them onions [the usual sliced raw onions that accompanies meals]. Don't serve them anything else to eat. After half an hour, I will send Aloba to call them."
Dorabjee did as instructed. He served food only to Kamble and not to the other three. When Aloba came, Kamble had finished and the others were sipping the water and nibbling on the onions. They accompanied Aloba to Guruprasad.
Baba asked, "What did you eat today?"
Their faces fell and dejectedly Shinde replied, "The food was not ready, Baba. We were waiting for it."
"Why wasn't it ready?"
"Dorabjee kept repeating, 'Just wait for five minutes ... Just five minutes more,' but even after half an hour we didn't get anything to eat. He was serving others — including Kamble! — but not us."
"Did you pay him?"
"The moment we stepped inside."
"Forget about it now; you can eat here."
So the three of them had their lunch in Guruprasad, and they never did learn why Dorabjee had behaved as he had.
Afterwards Baba commented, "It is so strange. Kamble got his food. Why didn't you get yours?"
They didn't know.
Baba explained, "You were blaming Kamble in the beginning, but God had pity on him and he had his food, whereas you had to go without."
One day the women from Bombay came to Guruprasad. Baba asked what they had eaten. Nargis Dadachanji replied, "[Mutton] Brain and spinach."
Baba joked, "You have all had brain; now don't eat my brain!"
(Meaning, tire him with unnecessary questions.)
Baba once asked Bapai Desai (Mansari's sister-in-law), "Do you eat chicken?"
Bapai said no.
"That's good," Baba joked. "Otherwise you would have to be born as a hen!"
Bapai Desai's daughter Meher had passed her inter-science exam but had not been able to gain admittance to medical school.
Baba advised her, "Take the bachelor of science course and then apply to medical school. If you don't become a doctor, I will not see your face again."