From his very first contact with the Satha family, Baba had been waiting to forge this inner link with the Jessawala family. Thinking that Baba would be displeased to see the horse straining with so many passengers, Gaimai told her nine-year-old son Eruch to jump down from the victoria. As Eruch did so, he slipped and fell, grazing his elbow, which began bleeding. He followed the carriage on foot. As he approached, Baba asked him about his injury. Baba applied ash from the dhuni to his elbow and wrapped it with his own handkerchief. He patted Eruch on the head, kissed him, and held him in his lap, his tender kindness capturing Eruch's heart forever. Eruch was destined to become one of the Master's most trusted companions. He would visit Baba occasionally, and joined him permanently twelve years later in 1938.
On one occasion, turning to the Satha sisters, Baba gave a rose to Banumasi to eat as prasad. He asked Gulamasi, "How many brothers do you have?" When she replied that she had five, Baba remarked, "I am your sixth brother."
Meherjee Mama Satha asked Baba how he could recognize a saint. Baba wrote on his slate, "To recognize a saint, you must first be a saint!"
Baba's two younger brothers, Beheram, seventeen, and Adi, eleven, had also come to Meherabad during their school break, and they returned to Poona with Vishnu's mother Kakubai on the evening of 4 January 1926.
On 7 January, Baba gave this message to the mandali about service to destitute people:
To help the poor, the needy and suffering people is service. Such persons give us the opportunity to serve them and we should be thankful to them. While performing such service, we should not have the least thought of the self; only then can it be called real service. If you think you are obliging those whom you serve, then it is not service, but an act done with an ulterior selfish motive.
If someone abuses us or insults us and becomes the cause of our suffering, or if we are harassed in any way, we should bow down to such a person instead of reacting angrily with him, because he is the means of wiping out our sanskaras. This is what Jesus meant when he said that if someone strikes you on the right cheek, offer him your left.
An example of the mandali's selfless service was found in the case of a Harijan boy named Kashinath.