Chapter 36: Interested In Remaining Disinterested
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After Dr. Ginde departed at about 2:30 P.M., Baba slept on and off that night of 30 October, but felt feverish the following day and the pain in the tonsil area, tongue and ear was at its maximum. His headache also continued. Besides this, the injection spot on his skin was sensitive and swollen. Ginde was informed. He said the pain would disappear; if not, another treatment would be given later in Bombay.
On 2 November 1960, there was more pain than there had been before the injection. Sedatives and sleeping pills had no effect. Although the facial paralysis was not increasing, there was about a 70 percent loss of sensation to the face with increased tenderness, and the muscle weakness persisted. Baba continued his facial exercises suggested by Dr. Atre. Urgent notes and phone calls about Baba's condition went back and forth between Goher (in Meherazad), Adi (in Ahmednagar), and Nariman and Arnavaz (in Bombay) to Ginde. Don drove to Meherazad every day.
Baba's pain became very severe on the 4th, and he was restless throughout the day. He began taking some homeopathic medicine that Padri recommended. That night, Baba again slept off and on.
After two days, on 6 November, there was some noticeable improvement. The intensity of the pain was slightly less and not as frequent. Baba's facial palsy also showed some improvement, and his face looked more symmetrical. He was able to open and close his right eye fully for the first time in several days. The mandali had been thinking of sending for Dr. Ginde again, but Baba instructed them to wait, since there was slight improvement.
Although there was a little change for the better after the injection given by Ginde, Baba's state of indifference did not change. In that depressed state, he would infrequently impart a few instructions. On Thursday, 10 November, he dictated orders that his lovers should repeat any one name of God 500 times daily for 21 consecutive days from 26 December 1960 through 15 January 1961.
He also stated: "Under any and all circumstances, they must fast for 24 hours during these 21 days."
Baba went on to give men the option of fasting for any number of days during the 21 days, and for women not more than five days.
He said: "Whether one fasts for 24 hours or more, the fast so observed should be done at one stretch — without letting any gaps occur in between the fasting.