Such daily dramas of life near the Avatar (even for stalwarts like Gustadji!) were repeated time and again with different close followers. But, as Ramjoo pointed out, "When teasing and troubling the mandali, Baba himself is in no way suffering less, but on the contrary, a hundred times more."1
Before lunch Baba asked all to rest for an hour, which they gladly did. After eating they walked to a stream, where they bathed and washed their clothes. Baba advised those who had blisters to apply heated oil to the affected area. Rustom was sent to the village of Igatpuri at 5:00 P.M. and returned two hours later after arranging for meals there.
On 25 October at 2:30 A.M., all had to rise unusually early and prepare to depart. They had hardly drifted off to sleep when they were awakened; those who had to keep nightwatch had virtually no sleep at all. Soon after leaving Kasara, however, they came to another steep hill. The bullock was not strong enough to pull the heavy cart, so for two miles each man had to shoulder his bedding or carry it on his head and help push the cart up the hill. At 8:45 A.M., after covering thirteen miles, they came to the restaurant at Igatpuri at which Rustom had arranged for their breakfast of rice and dal. Despite Rustom's instructions for the food to be kept ready, the owner had not done so at such an early hour, and Baba decided to forego breakfast. However, he told the mandali to eat sweets and drink tea; but no one took pleasure in it when Baba was going without food.
After breakfast they went to the dak bungalow at Igatpuri, and in the afternoon rice and dal were brought from an Irani restaurant. Baba then instructed them to rest. At 4:00 P.M. he told them to get ready to see the beautiful lake. Although all prepared for the outing, no one was very eager to go sightseeing, and Baba clearly saw this on their faces. He then asked who wanted to accompany him to the lake. Since not one man said he "wanted" to go, Baba changed his mind and proposed playing cards. But as the game went on he remarked that they played half-heartedly and he became quite upset. As a consequence, he ordered that no one should speak to him and he declared that he would not speak to any of them.
Footnotes
- 1.Ramjoo Abdulla, Ramjoo's Diaries (Sufism Reoriented: Walnut Creek, 1979), p. 248.