The men were exhausted from carrying their heavy loads on the nine-mile trek from Pathri. After washing at a public well, they ate lunch in a Hindu restaurant and rested through the afternoon in the waiting room at the railway station.
In the evening Padri and Behramji went to look for a suitable lodge. They found a Hindu dharamshala, but the manager was suspicious and asked them, "To what community do you belong? You don't look like Hindus."
Padri replied that they were Parsis. The manager was puzzled, inquiring, "Parsi? I have never heard of such a community. I am sorry, but we cannot accommodate you here." Padri pleaded, explaining that they were, in fact, Zoroastrians. But the manager said, "Tell the truth, are you Hindus or Muslims?"
"I am neither; I am a Zoroastrian!" Padri insisted. And to show the manager, he lifted his shirt and revealed his kusti (sacred thread) tied around his waist. The manager was worried that Padri might be a Muslim causing trouble; but persuaded that he was not, he allowed them to use the verandah of the dharamshala.
When the man pulled out the guest register, Padri signed it as "Faredoon Naoroji Driver" and Behramji registered as "Beheram Faredoon Irani."
Since it is common in India to adopt one's father's name as one's middle name, the manager again looked confused, pointed to Behramji, and asked Padri, "Are you his father?"
Padri laughed and replied, "You can see I am much younger than he; how could I be his father?"
Baba tried to relax on the verandah, but due to the stench of a nearby gutter, he decided not to stay at the dharamshala. Padri was sent to the train station to seek permission to sleep in the waiting room for two days. By chance there was a local Parsi at the station, and after Padri talked with the stationmaster, the stationmaster asked the Parsi for corroboration.
Even though Padri again insisted that his party consisted of Zoroastrians from Bombay (even showing his kusti again), the man was not convinced and asked, "Why would Zoroastrians go to Hardwar? Every Bombay man is not a Parsi." However, despite the suspicions of the Parsi, the stationmaster allowed them to use the waiting room.
The next day, 17 August 1924, a telegram was sent to Sadashiv instructing him to meet them in Benares. Baba spent the rest of the day bowing to sadhus.
