And, after a while, a separate accommodation was made for a girls' school, and Haridas Bua's wife was appointed to teach them.1
The original Hazrat Babajan School was located near the Post Office, where the women mandali were residing. Excellent primary instruction was offered and a boarding house for the children was also opened. The children who lived there were kept well-fed, well-clothed, well-exercised and happy. Their books and writing materials were provided free of charge.
Because of the prejudice prevailing at that time, separate arrangements were made for the Harijan children. They had to be taught in separate rooms and eat their meals separated from the Brahmin children. Baba, of course, did not approve of the social conditions and pressures that kept the Harijans ostracized from the rest of the children, though he complied with them. The children themselves were quite aware of caste distinction and would line up for meals according to strict social rank: The high-caste Brahmins were always first in line and the Harijan children were at the end. Even among the Harijans there were strict social delineations of who was socially higher. For example, a tailor's son was considered higher than a butcher's son and acted accordingly. But gradually, day by day, Baba unified them as the awareness of the equality of all was brought home to their parents.
Facilities for every type of game and sport were provided, and Baba himself sometimes participated in their football (soccer) and cricket matches. Prizes were presented to the winners of athletic contests, and awards were given to the students who excelled on the regularly scheduled examinations.
Baba had his eye on the conduct of the school, and also on the dispensary and hospital, and meeting his high standards was always a stressful task for the mandali. The Master would inevitably find some fault with Vishnu's manner of performing his duties in the school, for instance, and would harshly scold him in front of his students. Pendu was found at fault for not keeping the hospital clean enough.
Each morning Baba would inspect the children to see that they were properly washed and dressed. As mentioned, the poorest among them were the Harijans. By circumstances and habit the Harijans were most unclean, and Baba would emphasize that they observe cleanliness by regularly washing with soap, changing into clean clothes and washing their hands before eating. Baba personally gave a bath to each of the students twice a week and would even help wash their clothes daily.
Footnotes
- 1.According to Mani, Sheriar's sister Piroja returned to live in Iran where she passed away in the early 1930s. Mani's sister-in-law Perinmai said Piroja never married. Dowla Masi's husband Faredoon Masa also passed away in the early 1930s, after being paralyzed for a few years.