Baba, on the other hand, greatly loved Bahadur, the low-caste sweeper from Poona, whom Baba had once ordered to smear human waste on his body. During Baba's stay in the Poona Hut in 1922, Bahadur would compose ghazals and bhajans and sing them to Baba, and when he visited Meherabad he continued to sing before the Master.
Baba would openly show his love for him, make him sit by his side, and then ask, "Have you composed something new? Sing it to me. Sing!" and Bahadur would very happily launch into his latest composition.
Late at night on 22 October 1925, Gustadji blew his whistle to signal danger. The men immediately ran out of their quarters carrying sticks in their hands. When they inquired what was the problem, Gustadji explained, "It was nothing serious. Apparently a rat ran over one of the women as she slept, and she started shrieking. Hearing her, I blew the whistle!" All the men laughed as the seriousness of the incident dissolved into a joke.
Different men would keep watch each night during this period, and Gulabsha, who had come to stay at Meherabad, was put in charge of this duty. Chhagan would help. Once Chhagan fell asleep while on duty at night, and Gulabsha was very upset with him. Sarcastically, he advised, "If you feel sleepy, why don't you apply chili powder to your eyes?" Chhagan took him seriously and the next night, to avoid falling asleep, he sprinkled a little chili powder in his eyes and soon began crying aloud in pain. Hearing Chhagan in pain, Baba himself washed his eyes with cool water, but the burning and swelling did not cease for several days.
After fasting for six days, Baba began eating very small quantities of food on occasion, but on other days he ate nothing. But, as Ajoba noted in his diary: "Baba was marked to be as fresh and active as ever." In the morning he would remain aloof from others, preoccupied with writing his book inside the Table Cabin. At night, when everyone was asleep, he would continue writing on the verandah of the Hazrat Babajan School, using a kerosene lantern on a small portable desk.1 Any of the mandali who rose in the middle of the night to urinate would see Baba sitting alone by the school absorbed with this work.
During this period, a newspaper publisher and his wealthy friend came for Baba's darshan.
Footnotes
- 1.The desk on which Meher Baba wrote a portion of his book is now kept in the museum at Upper Meherabad.