But the doctor failed to do so, and Prashant died at 10:00 P.M. When the news was received, Baba kissed Eruch on the forehead and sent him to the hospital, telling him to do likewise to Prashant's corpse. As instructed by Baba, Meherdas had nursed Prashant in the hospital and served him well in his dying moments.
The passing away of his son had no effect on Kumar, who remained stoic and submitted completely to Baba's will. His wife Subhadra was called from Dehra Dun, and arrived at Guruprasad on the 15th. Gaimai and Eruch were instructed to break the news to her tactfully. She asked where her son was.
"He is with Baba," Eruch said.
"Inside, with Baba?" she inquired.
"With Baba," Eruch repeated, and then Baba came into the room.
Baba consoled her and permitted her to remain at Guruprasad for a few days. He then sent her back with Kumar.
Baba commented, "It has to be for lovers like them to share some of my suffering happily."
The hula-hoop craze had come to India and one had been brought to Guruprasad.
During one session with Baba, before Kumar and his wife left on the 29th, Baba told Kumar, "Come on, get up and show us how to do the hula hoop before me."
Kumar immediately rose and moved his hips energetically to keep the ring in motion. This was how Baba transformed a sad occasion into one of gaiety.
During this same period, Pukar's son also died. Baba had sent Pukar to Hamirpur for a month, and he returned to Guruprasad at the end of July. Pukar also had not wept over the death of his son, and Baba praised him publicly for his stoicism and cited him as an example of the type of love he wanted. During Pukar's stay at Guruprasad, Baba gave him a good amount of "his special prasad" by daily striking him soundly on his large abdomen with an aluminum basin (kept by Baba's side for washing his hands).
Dr. Hoshang Bharucha of Navsari came to Poona several times that summer for Baba's darshan, the last time being on 7 June 1959. Baba told him to stay an extra day or two and, on the 9th, he gave him what at first appeared to be a simple order.
Baba instructed him, "Don't leave Navsari until the end of August."
Bharucha agreed, not knowing what was to transpire.
A few years before, Hoshang's sister Tehmie had married a man named Jal Cowasji, and had moved to Bombay. The husband, however, would never allow his wife to indulge in spiritual practices for fear she would renounce him and the world. One day they had a heated quarrel, and Tehmie left the house and went to live in a hotel. Regretting the argument, the husband sent a telegram to Hoshang to tell him that Tehmie had left home.