Deshmukh arrived, and both children grabbed his hand and attempted to block his entry. Deshmukh waved them away, declaring, "Have I come to take your Baba away on my shoulders? Let me, too, sit here for a while." Baba signaled them to drive him away, and Sheela tried to catch his hand, but he yanked it away. Baba was gesturing them not to let Deshmukh enter, so while Sheela pulled one of his hands, Mehernath bit him on the other hand!
Deshmukh hollered, and Baba was highly amused, but to the children he gestured, looking upset, "Now that Deshmukh has entered, let him go. I did not want him to come inside; but now what can we do?"
After talking with him for a while, Baba asked Deshmukh to leave.
Deshmukh stayed seated, so Baba pointed to Mehernath, gesturing, "Prick him with a pin and make him go away!"
Mehernath rose and went toward him, and Deshmukh rushed out.
Each day, the same scene would be repeated for the week or so that Deshmukh stayed in Poona. One day he asked Baba, "Should I bring Indu [his wife] and Sanjeevani [his daughter] to see you?"
Exasperated, Baba said, "Look at this man! I do not even want to see him , and he asks me about his wife and daughter!"
Another day, Deshmukh brought a box full of Baba lockets and asked Baba to touch them. Baba said he would touch the box and that was sufficient, but Deshmukh insisted he touch each locket individually — 200 or more!
Baba remarked, "He is doing this on purpose just to be in my presence longer."
And although Baba disliked doing the tedious task, he fulfilled Deshmukh's request.
Rama and Mehernath were sent back to Ahmednagar on 4 June 1966, as Mehernath's school holidays were over. Sheela was kept in Guruprasad, as she had to be taken to the doctor every day to change the dressing.
When her mother had been there, Sheela and Rama would eat with the women mandali, but now, Baba instructed her to eat with the men. Because of her operation, she was not able to chew anything hard, and one day the mandali's lunch consisted of such foods. Baba sent for Goher to call Sheela to the women's side, where he gave her his own rice and dal to eat.
Sheela hesitated, thinking Baba would go hungry, but he commented, "This food is not very tasty; I cannot eat it. You have it."
She did and found it delicious.