When not explaining spiritual matters or giving them a discourse, Baba would play cricket, atya-patya, and Ping-Pong with the boys. In the games of cricket, Baba would be the captain of one team and Rustom of the other, and every day a match was played between their respective teams.
The classes in the school were being conducted regularly with exams given periodically. On Sunday, 15 July 1928, S. N. Deshpande was hired to help Edke teach in the school.1 Baba himself would keep a watchful eye on the teachers' lessons.
Four boys were shifted from the Meher Ashram to the Prem Ashram that day. Ramaji was out of sorts and insisted on leaving, so he was sent to Arangaon on the 17th.
Baily left for Poona on 19 July, where his mother was ill. One of the boys named Damu had been ill for almost three weeks with a persistent high fever.
Baba called the boy and took him on his lap, saying, "Tell your fever to go to Baba! Don't worry. I am always near you, with you, and in you."
Baba played chess that night until 10:00 P.M. with Khak Saheb and Ramjoo.
Parents of the boys were permitted to visit their children in Toka, and Baba even paid for their transport charges. A bus was arranged to leave from Ahmednagar and the parents could come free of charge. But when some of the parents began asking for the bus too frequently, this facility was stopped. They could still visit any number of times, but they had to bear the charges for coming.
A boy named Jamshed Afseri continued to disobey Baba's instructions and on 21 July, he was asked to leave the ashram, which he did, showing no sign of regret. The next day, Aga Ali was reported to be misbehaving, so he was transferred back to the Meher Ashram. It was a severe punishment for Ali and he cried throughout the night. Two more boys who were especially troublesome were Jamshed Khan and Mehedi Khan, both of whom left the school on the 23rd. Baba was not, however, displeased by their departures.
On the contrary, he remarked, "A great burden has been lifted from my shoulders. I will be able to breathe freely now after half a year of tolerance."
The next evening, several of the other boys began crying uncontrollably and behaving in an uncooperative manner.
Footnotes
- 1.Two teachers (one named Kamble) had been hired at the end of June.