Eye infections were rampant among the villagers, so Baba had a classified ad placed in the Times of India , advertising for an eye doctor to work at Meherabad. One doctor moved there, but did not stay long. Shortly afterward, a local eye doctor, Y. G. Karkal, was appointed to direct the hospital. He came with his wife and began living at Meherabad. A few of the mandali were selected as his assistants; they were to do any necessary work to keep the hospital functioning smoothly and the facilities immaculate. Padri became the dispensary's compounder (pharmacist), and Pendu served as its supervisor.1
After the opening ceremony, Baba distributed sweets and told the villagers: "Take care of your health. Do not fall ill if you can avoid it. But if you do fall sick, don't hesitate to come here for medicine and treatment."
From that day, a new era of increased activity dawned at Meherabad. In the beginning, patients numbered up to 40 persons every day, but the number eventually rose to almost 125. The number of patients staying in the hospital rose from 5 per day to 20. During the year and a half that the hospital operated, almost 7,500 patients would be treated or hospitalized and, in some cases, seemingly terminal diseases were miraculously cured. Even minor surgery was performed at Meherabad; a special room was built after a year for cataract operations, and several people who had lost their sight had it restored at Meherabad.
The once quiet atmosphere at Meherabad was rapidly changing. The number of Arangaon children was increasing and on 25 March 1925, the Hazrat Babajan School was opened for them, with classes up to the seventh standard (grade).2 In the beginning, Arjun was appointed the school's director, and Vishnu became the teacher for the Harijan children. Joshi and Bapu Gahile taught the Brahmin and Maratha children's classes. Besides teaching, Arjun and Vishnu were to look after the children's food and health. At first the school was made of simple bamboo matting, but later it was expanded into a high school with walls of tin sheets.
More teachers were employed as the necessity arose. The first teachers included Pandurang S. Deshmukh ( Pandoba ), Gaikwad, Jhagirdar, Yeshwant L. Mehendarge ( Bhausaheb ), Goma Ganesh Krishna Pathak, Rajoop and R. R. Shinde. Of Baba's mandali, in addition to Vishnu and Arjun, Chanji was also ordered to serve as a teacher whenever he was at Meherabad.3 Eventually, there were almost 200 children in the school.
Footnotes
- 1.In those days pre-packaged, ready-to-use medicines were rare. A compounder was the person who prepared and dispensed medicines that the doctor had prescribed.
- 2.Courses were taught in Marathi, but elementary English was also taught.
- 3.Chanji had not yet completely wound up his business affairs in Bombay, and although he would visit frequently, it would be six months more before Chanji moved permanently to Meherabad.