When Baidul was diagnosed with typhoid on 26 August 1965, Sidhu was again called to Meherazad for a week or ten days to help look after him. Sheroo, Jehangu, Gulnar and their daughter Mehernaz were permitted to come to Meherazad on the 28th. A meeting of the Avatar Meher Baba Trust was held at Meherazad from 3:00 to 5:00 P.M. on 29 August. All of the trustees were present, except for Nariman and Ramjoo.
At 9:30 A.M. on Wednesday, 1 September 1965, Baba gave an hour-long audience to Gajwani, his daughter Shyama and her small son Anil. The intelligent boy was quiet and sat by Baba on the floor next to Baba's chair. Mani took a film of the family with Baba. Shyama and the boy were taken to greet Mehera also. After they left, Baba sent Eruch to the Pimpalgaon pumping station to telephone Adi at Khushru Quarters to tell Shyama "not to let Anil be exposed to the breeze after perspiring."
New collars made by Shinde arrived for Baba that day, sent by Meherwan.
Baba's routine at this time was to come to mandali hall in the lift-chair between 9:15 to 9:30 A.M. He would take a few rounds inside the hall for exercise and then lie down to rest in a bed which had been kept in the hall. The mandali would massage Baba's body as he listened to correspondence being read out. By 11:00 A.M. Baba moved to his chair and played cards with Francis, Kaka and Pendu for 30 to 45 minutes.
At 11:45 A.M. Baba was taken back to the house in the lift-chair. At about 2:30 P.M. the mandali were called to his house, where for half an hour or so there was another game of cards.
Toward the end of August 1965, Goher again began giving Baba cortisone injections into his hip, which resulted in less pain in his joint. The pain in Baba's neck, however, continued. He underwent seven pounds of traction in bed daily from 9:45 to 10:45 A.M. in the hall, and then wore the collar for an hour more while he sat in his chair.
Eruch described Baba's condition (in a letter dated 9 September): "Baba's health is as usual, with the exception that he can move about a little from room to room on his feet. The hip joint is not bothering him these days, but the pain in the neck fluctuates — sometimes more and sometimes less. I am beginning to feel this 'pain in the neck' is not due to any pathological condition, but it is the universe itself that has become for beloved Baba a 'pain in the neck!' "
Baba confirmed this, when he dictated on 11 September 1965: "My hip joint is behaving now and the pain is much less, and I can walk about a little from room to room without botheration. The pain in the neck had almost gone by the end of July, but it has returned and is severe now. The whole universe is a 'pain in the neck' and the more the burden the greater the pain! At present the burden of Universal work and consequent suffering is too great, and the pain-in-the-neck is also very severe consequently."
Two kerosene lanterns hung outside the windows of Baba's bedroom at night, and the curtains were left open so that the light would shine inside. But at this time, Baba directed that both lanterns be extinguished.
He remarked, "Insects hover around the lamps and the noise is bothering me."
He had never mentioned this before, and while on night duty, Bhau, Pendu and Rano had to sit in his room in total darkness. They used a flashlight to read his hand signs and, under these conditions, it was quite inconvenient to attend to him in the dark. Why Baba insisted on this was not then clear. But a few days later on 1 September, when Pakistan attacked India — crossing the Kashmir ceasefire line — and a blackout was enforced, the mandali understood Baba's action.