Chapter 36: Interested In Remaining Disinterested
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Baba gestured, "Go ahead. Do it!"
Dr. Ginde finally agreed. He took precise measurements and then inserted the needle into the temple until it reached the second and third trigeminal nerve. He instructed Baba to tell him when Baba felt any sensation in his tongue. When Baba indicated he did, Ginde put alcohol in the needle and deadened the nerve. Ginde did an excellent job without any external aid, but unfortunately with no positive result. Baba asked how long it would last, and Ginde said it was permanent. But no sooner had Ginde left, than Baba's pain returned. In addition, the pain at the site of the deep injection gave Baba a severe headache.
Baba said that he would wait a month more, and if the pain had not subsided, he would go to Bombay to be treated by Ginde. Although such a visit and injection would have normally cost between Rs.1,000 to 2,000, when Adi asked him what fees he would take, Ginde refused to accept any money for his services. It was highly unusual for so famous a surgeon to spend an entire day traveling to a remote location to treat one patient, but somehow he had agreed. Ginde had never met Meher Baba before, but on seeing him, the great doctor was so moved that he became his devoted slave. He began coming to Baba often — and his affection and love for Baba deepened profoundly over the years. He had come as a doctor to treat Baba but he left as his patient! In Baba's state of disinterestedness, it seemed he had undergone such suffering to create interest about himself in Dr. Ram Ginde.
Here is Dr. Ginde's description of that first meeting:
[Baba] was in extreme pain. There were multiple ulcers on his face, inside his ear, on the tongue, on the lips, and I learned that beloved Baba had not had a morsel of food for more than three weeks because of the intense pain that he was suffering. So, naturally, I tried to talk to him and I find that Baba does not talk! I said, "Oh God! What have I come to? Am I a vet [veterinarian]?" I said to myself in my own mind. "Here is a patient who cannot talk and I have to make up my mind."
I tried to examine him. He was extremely gentle and cooperative in spite of his intense pain.