He was not able to move his neck even a little; if he had to look in one direction, he had to turn his whole body that way. Even a slight movement of his jaw, Baba conveyed through signs, gave him terrible pain. He tried to keep his head and neck as stationary as possible.
But on 12 April the pain became so acute that Baba complained, "I feel as if the nerves and veins in my head are being pulled and strained downward. My neck is so stiff it has become rigid."
A young physician named Dr. Sathe of Ahmednagar had replaced the deceased Dr. Karkal as the ashram physician, but he was unable to do much to relieve Baba's symptoms. Baba later had a passage from the Perfect Master Ramakrishna's biography read out, in which his suffering for others was described.
Due to the strong winds, Baba sat inside the Jhopdi with the mandali, rather than at his usual seat by the dhuni. On the 14th, he sat inside the dispensary from eight to noon, and then went back inside the Jhopdi until evening. It was quite unusual. It was a Thursday and outside visitors had come to pay their respects, which they did inside the Jhopdi.
At 8:00 P.M. Kaka Shahane and his wife Manutai suddenly came with their children for Baba's darshan. Manutai had Baba's order not to drink tea, but as she was going to Kolhapur to visit her relatives who might insist on her taking tea, she requested that Baba allow her to drink tea during her visit.
Baba gave his consent, but corrected her, "It is a mistake to ask for a change in my order once given. When I give an order it should be followed at any cost until the time I, on my own, withdraw it. And so all orders, under all circumstances, are to be carried out. There should be no breach of my word. I will never refuse a change in the original order if asked for, but take it that the effect and force of my first word or order is lost once it is changed. And because of that, those concerned will necessarily have to suffer."
On Friday, 15 April 1927, Baba called Chanji, Dhake, and others, and he expressed his dissatisfaction with the management of the school. Dhake protested, "I am disappointed to learn that you are grieved with my work, in spite of the fact that I am putting my whole heart into it."