Baba visited them late at night also, sometimes coming two or three times between 10:00 P.M. and 2:30 A.M. to check on their meditation.
Different people would come and go under the Master's direction. Soonamasi and her daughter Khorshed returned to Toka from Bombay to join the women mandali on 17 November. Chanji had been sent to Bombay and Navsari for ten days, and he returned the next day.
In early November 1928, Baba again began complaining about the climate of Toka. Winter was approaching and the health of the boys and mandali was not good. Many were suffering with colds and fever.
On Sunday, 18 November, in an unhappy mood, Baba stated, "Now it is better to shift the ashram back to Meherabad. Except for a few select boys, the rest will be sent back to their homes. The boys of the Prem Ashram are jewels and I will set them on the Path."
Baba then explained to all the boys that for a month they should go home until arrangements were complete for their stay at Meherabad, after which they would be called back. Due to Baba's persuasion, the children agreed to return home under the impression that their separation would be temporary. Later that day, seven boys from Ahmednagar were sent home; the next day, eighteen more from Bombay, Karachi, and Poona departed escorted by Padri and Beheram.
The mystery underlying this new development was unraveled when, on 19 November, Aga Ali's father came to Toka for the third time. On this occasion he brought a notorious gangster with him to forcefully demand the return of his son. Ali was handed over to him and they left the following day. It was for this very reason that Baba had been working so strenuously day and night with the boys during the previous few months. As soon as his work was finished, he announced his sudden decision to send the boys away, and the next day Ali's father arrived, threatening dire consequences by his "bodyguard" if his son was not returned to him.
By 20 November, Pesu took home a third group of Hindu boys, leaving only a few boys remaining in the Prem Ashram. Among this group were the fourteen boys from Persia.
Meher Ashram, which had started with only ten local Hindu children, had gradually increased in number until by 18 November 1928, the total number was 102 boys (49 Hindus, 32 Zoroastrians, 20 Muslims, and one Christian).1 In addition to the boys, there were a hundred others — men, women, and families — living at Toka.
Footnotes
- 1.Of the 49 Hindus, 15 were Harijans, 15 Marathas, 11 Brahmins, 8 other castes.