Baba showed his love for Arjun by visiting him often at the hospital; and though there was a large gathering for darshan on 3 and 4 December, Baba took a break to visit Arjun and to give detailed instructions to Dr. Bhiwalkar about his care.
After staying in Lonavla for ten days, Baba decided to take the afternoon train to Bombay with the mandali on Sunday, 5 December 1926. A house for him at Santa Cruz (a northern suburb) had been arranged through a Bombay devotee, Mr. Ramdas, who had met Baba at Meherabad in 1925. Before departing, Baba again consulted with Ghani and Dr. Bhiwalkar, giving final instructions for Arjun's care. Karim and Waman Subnis were ordered to stay behind to nurse him, and bring him to Bombay when he recovered. Baba visited Arjun at the nursing home one final time; he gave him a last kiss and then left. No one knew that by that final kiss the book containing Arjun's story was being torn to pieces, as Arjun's life was transformed into Existence!
Baba and the mandali reached Dadar railway station at five o'clock. Since it was the religious holiday of Amawasya (and a Sunday), Naval and Mr. Ramdas were not able to arrange transportation for the group to their lodgings.1 Finally, a victoria was hired and Baba went in the horse-drawn carriage with a few of the mandali to the bungalow. The women proceeded to Santa Cruz by local train with Naval.
Meanwhile at the train station, Behramji asked the men to take the bulky and heavy baggage to an opposite platform far away to catch a local train. This was an arduous task considering the number of pieces they had with them. A crowd gathered to stare at this unlikely group of coolies. The railway authorities and then the police arrived and insisted they remove the luggage quickly as it was obstructing traffic. A trolley was hired and the luggage was loaded on it, but while crossing the tracks, one of its wheels got caught. Two trains were fast approaching so all exerted their utmost to free the wheel and move the trolley. They just managed to free the cart as the trains steamed by. It was a dangerous situation and all took Baba's name throughout. With great difficulty, they reached Ramdas' bungalow at 10:30 that night, extremely fatigued.
The next day, Baba set forth the schedule he wished them to follow during their stay in Bombay.
Footnotes
- 1.Amawasya is a moonless night when bathing, prayer and fasting are observed.