When the women complained that he was not giving them enough of his company, Baba replied, "What am I to do? Where am I to be — here or there? If I remain here, the boys are disappointed, and when I am with them, you become displeased. So now decide the issue by a tug-of-war. I will go wherever I am pulled!"
Baba stood in the middle and the women held one of his arms and the boys his other.
"Pull with all your might," Baba indicated. "Let's see who is stronger — and who loves me more."
The contest began and Baba was tugged back and forth. It lasted for several minutes and the women won. As a reward, from that day on Baba spent additional time with the women mandali.
The Master would go to the women's quarters for his bath and meals. During his bath, he would wear his chaddis. Mehera's sister Freiny would wash Baba's head, Khorshed his back and Mehera his feet, after which they all would rinse him with warm water. It was the duty of a maidservant named Saku, then staying with the women, to bring the buckets of bathwater. She too had the opportunity of pouring water over the Master. He would discuss spiritual subjects with Saku, and the women felt that Baba had a great affection for her.
But his love for Mehera was unique, as Krishna's was for Radha.
Once Baba said to Mehera, "My love for you is excessively more than for anyone else."
One day, while explaining certain spiritual matters, Baba related this tale to the women mandali:
There once was a yogi who had the power to remove his intestines and wash them. One day he did this and kept them in the sun to dry. A dog saw the organs and ran away with them. Terribly upset, the yogi ran after the dog.
You may think I am exaggerating, but it is a common feat among yogis. Such powers do not count along the Path. I am going to give you something quite different; my gift is something special. I am not going to give you such powers — otherwise, you might have to chase after dogs!
Baba wanted the mandali to serve him with humility and do very lowly tasks. For example, as there was no sweeper in the ashram, Baba's uncle, Masaji, was given the duty of cleaning the toilets of the women mandali (as he had done at Meherabad). He would also clean the cistern several times a day whenever it would fill with the runoff bathwater and residue water used to clean the pots and laundry.