Padri bought tickets to Madras, which was reached at 9:30 P.M. on 3 August. They stayed at the Shaikh Siddiqui choultry near the railway station.1 The next day, inquiries were made for travel to Porto Novo, but the area was heavily flooded by the monsoons and many had been rendered homeless. It was then that Baba's statement before starting was remembered: "During this journey, I will serve the sufferers."
Roasted chickpeas, cheese and bread were bought as snacks during the train ride. Baba instructed Padri to keep plenty of change handy so that when Baba touched the feet of sadhus, they could be given a few coins as dakshina.
Due to the flood damage, only one train was proceeding to Porto Novo and that, too, with much difficulty. There was a tremendous crowd pushing and shoving near the booking office, and ticket sales had stopped. Padri returned to where Baba was waiting, without tickets. Baba told him instead of buying the usual third class he should try to get second-class tickets, but Padri pleaded that nothing was available due to the rush to board the only train for Porto Novo. Baba reproved Padri for not thinking of buying the tickets earlier. Baba expressed his unhappiness as they were forced by circumstances to return to the dharamshala.
At the dharamshala, Baba made enigmatic remarks which he kept repeating during the entire journey: "I want to touch the feet of 5,000 sadhus, and I pray that they will abuse and insult me, which will tear to shreds my divine ego and crush my Baba-hood!"
He then narrated stories about Lord Ram and Upasni Maharaj, both of whom were much maligned during their respective wanderings in India.
It was resolved the following day to go to the Nilgiris Hills instead of Porto Novo. They left Madras for Ooty at 6:30 P.M. on 5 August. Their plan was to arrive the next day at Mettupalaiyam Junction (which Baba would refer to as "Petroleum") and change trains there. They stretched out in the compartment and promptly fell asleep. The next morning, although the train passed station after station, Mettupalaiyam was nowhere in sight. When they asked a fellow passenger about it, he looked at them with surprise and said that this compartment was not going to Mettupalaiyam. It had been detached in the middle of the night while they were asleep and had been linked to another train.
Footnotes
- 1.A choultry is a resting place for visitors where rooms and food are provided by a charitable institution; similar to a dharamshala or serai.