One night during his watch, Baba asked Bhau, "Who is your best friend?"
Bhau replied, "Nana," since he had known Nana Kher since his college days in Nagpur.
"Do you feel lonely here without him?" Bhau said yes.
"Should I call him here?"
"Baba, how can you call him during your seclusion?"
"Never mind that," Baba replied.
The next day in the hall, Baba instructed Eruch to send Nana Kher a telegram, informing him to come and stay at Meherazad. Pendu and Eruch objected, but Baba did not give any further explanation.
Nana Kher arrived on the morning of 28 August, and remained for almost a month.1 He would keep watch near Baba at night for three hours, and was then relieved by Aloba. It was the first time Nana had been given this duty, and it was Aloba's first time as well. (Aloba continued doing it until February 1968, at which time Baba stopped it.)
Putting his two forefingers together, Baba had told Bhau, "When Nana comes, you two do everything together. Take walks together, eat together, be with each other at all times."
Bhau followed Baba's instructions and became Nana's constant companion, but after some time Bhau became fed up because he had other work to attend to, and Nana was always by his side. Soon, Bhau was sorry he had ever mentioned Nana's name to Baba!
On Monday, 4 September 1967, blood was drawn from Baba to determine his blood sugar levels. The samples were sent to Dr. Thombre at the Ayurvedic Hospital in Ahmednagar. In a letter to Dr. Grant from Goher three days later, she reported that the post prandial test was high, and Baba's urine report was also not good. From the 5th, Baba experienced continuous giddiness accompanied by the swelling of both his feet. He was given large doses of diuretics and the swelling came down. Rastinon tablets were also administered for the giddiness. More blood tests followed on 8 September, and again on the 26th. On 9 September, Don drove to Poona to discuss Baba's blood work with Dr. Grant. He returned the same evening and went to Meherazad.
On Sunday, 10 September, as a recreation from the burden of his seclusion work, the qawaal Abdul Rahman Kachwala and five musicians were called from Bombay to Meherazad at 11:30 A.M. Kachwala was a large, hefty man, but his voice was mellifluous and Baba liked his ghazal selections and the way he sang. He performed from noon till 2:00 P.M. and again in the afternoon from 2:30 P.M. until 4:00 P.M.
Footnotes
- 1.Ramjoo's sister Amina Jaffer, who along with her husband Abdulla had very early contact with Baba, passed away in Nasik on 28 August 1967, after a long struggle with cancer.