It was immediately taken to the Meherabad hospital for treatment. The other goat was dead, and the village Harijans had carted it off with the intention of butchering it and eating the mutton. Finding out about this, Baba immediately went to Arangaon with a few of the men and prevailed upon the Harijans to bury the carcass. He made them promise never to eat such dead animals again. Baba then invited the villagers to Meherabad and fed them to their hearts' content.
In the ashram, the men and women mandali were permitted to eat only vegetarian food. Eggs were not allowed, and even biscuits or cookies baked with eggs were forbidden. This restriction was to continue for almost 25 years.1
Every evening from the 5th of August, bhajans were sung by Bhikolya, a singer from Poona who had sung at Meherabad a year earlier. During the program on the 7th, it began raining heavily. Not finding Behramji among the gathering, Baba asked where he was. On the pretext of going to look for him, Baba began running about in the pouring rain without even taking an umbrella. Baba found Behramji and Ajoba taking shelter by the bathrooms near the well and brought them back with him. All three were soaking wet and had to change their clothes. Baba gave both men quinine tablets, and after putting on Rustom's overcoat, he returned to his seat.
The singing resumed.
Rustom was not present for the program, but Baba suddenly leaned over with a concerned look and gestured to Gulmai about her son, "Rustom has fallen."
He continued listening to the music and Gulmai paid no special attention to his remark. She did not know that Rustom had left Ahmednagar to attend to some work in another town.
The next day, Rustom arrived at Meherabad and declared that his life had been saved by Baba's grace. The previous evening, as he and a group of persons were returning to Ahmednagar in a truck, they were caught in the rainstorm. Rustom was driving. Nearing what he thought was a shallow stream, he decided to drive through it. In the middle, however, the truck got stuck in a deep hole filled with sand. Rustom jumped down to determine the exact depth of the stream and he was almost overwhelmed by the force of the strong current. Standing in the rushing water, he was losing his balance when he caught hold of the mudguard and cried out to Baba for strength.
Footnotes
- 1.The food restraint was gradually relaxed after 1949, and those who were non-vegetarians were allowed to eat meat at times.