Chapter 36: Interested In Remaining Disinterested
1961Page 4,738 of 5,444
Baba wants all his lovers to know and to bear in mind that no one should come to see him for any purpose, much less for his darshan or for private visits to Guruprasad at any time during his stay in Poona.
For reasons of his very strict seclusion and very bad health, Baba expressly wants all his lovers to help keep him absolutely undisturbed throughout his stay in Poona — until such time as Baba, on his own , asks anyone to see him at Meherazad or Poona for his work.
In short, please note that the Beloved will continue to remain in strict seclusion irrespective of where he may be residing, at Meherazad-Ahmednagar, or at Poona, or at any other place.
Baba, from his seclusion, sends his love to all who fasted for any duration between 26 December 1960 and 16 January 1961.
The ban on correspondence also continued, although to some Baba had Mani write, asking why they had not written! For example, Alain Youell was to appear for his Oxford exams, and Mani wrote to inform him that Baba was concerned about not having heard from him in a while. Alain wrote back: "I thought we were not to write unless it was a dire emergency."
In a humorous vein, Mani replied, "Baba asks, who said that included you?"
Baba never liked to take a bath, especially so because the Meherazad and Ahmednagar water was very hard. (It had too much lime in it and Baba's skin was very sensitive.) At the mandali's insistence, Baba agreed to have a bath once a week, provided softer water was sent from Poona. So from mid-February 1961, each week (at times daily), the Jessawalas began sending Poona Cantonment municipal water in two large brass cans and two large-sized handas (water vessels), with which Baba used to bathe.1
Conveying water from Poona to Meherazad required intricate logistics. At first Meherwan sent the water on the return trips of Bhagirath's truck, which carried goats from Ahmednagar to Poona. Later Meherwan found space in various private cars or on the roof of public buses. Meherwan would phone Adi to let him know when it was coming (the bus number, et cetera) and Adi would arrange to have it picked up and delivered to Meherazad, and then return the empty cans to Poona. This lasted until Baba left for Guruprasad.
Footnotes
- 1.The vessels had tight lids and had been given by Sadashiv Patil from his old house in the city.