Later, when the sun had risen and Mehera was combing Baba's hair, Baba again called the Kalchuris to his bedroom. Mehera gave Baba two lockets, one for each child.
Baba took Sheela's and then pinned it on her blouse, stating, "Don't remove this during your operation.1 I will be there with you, but if you remove it, I will not come. And don't tell anyone who this is. If the doctor asks you, don't tell him. This locket will protect and save you from harm. Always keep it with you, and you will have good health."
At the hospital, the nurses told Sheela to remove her blouse but she insisted she wear the locket during the operation, and after much argument, the staff relented. Meherjee and Nana Kher were with Sheela at the hospital, and several times during the extensive operation, Baba instructed Bhau to phone for an update about Sheela's condition. The operation was successful, and after a week Sheela returned to Guruprasad to convalesce.
Sadashiv Patil would come to Guruprasad every day, as would Meherjee. One day on a sign from Baba, Mehernath asked Sadashiv, "Patil Kaka [Uncle], how much exercise do you take?"
Sadashiv replied, "I do 2,000 sit-ups every day!"
Baba, in surprise, covered his mouth with his hand. At a nod from him, Mehernath exclaimed, "Two thousand sit-ups! Oh God!"
Sadashiv said nonchalantly, "That is nothing! I also walk three miles daily and go up and down Parvati Hill five times a day."
Again, from Baba's gestures Mehernath asked, "And what do you eat?"
"Two pitchers of buttermilk, two seers of milk and five loaves of bread!"
Baba was much amused, and Mehernath said, "Patil Kaka, you are as strong as a man 25 years old, but you are not a man, but a giant!"
Sadashiv said, "Granted, but what is wrong in that?"
Every day, Baba would make Sheela ask Sadashiv when it would rain. Sadashiv would give a definite date each time, but no rain would fall. This happened a few times, and one day Sheela told him, "Baba thought that he was the only one who could deceive us; but Patil Kaka is now the master in that art, since he deceives even Baba! Cattle and humans have no water to drink because of lack of rain, and here Dada is making a game of it!"
Sadashiv replied, "Now, rain will surely come within four days!" On the fourth day, black clouds overcast the sky, and Sadashiv began telling Sheela, "Now, go and tell Baba that, as I said, rain will surely come today."
Footnotes
- 1.Baba's order proved most difficult for Sheela to obey because the doctor would pester her with questions about the "man in the locket," trying to find out who it was. More peculiar was the fact that this very doctor, W. G. Atre, had himself been brought to Meherazad six years before in 1960 by Meherjee, to treat Baba. Why Baba did not wish Sheela to disclose his name to the doctor and why the doctor failed to recognize Meher Baba remain a mystery.