The Combined Diary
By evening nothing remains but marks on the ground where the Dharmshala and leper ward stood, folios #382-386, October 26-31, 1926.
Early in the morning Baba called the mandali to move school supplies into the hospital. Some mandali delayed and hesitated in responding to the order, putting Baba "out of temper;" after guilty pleas and pardons by Baba the work atmosphere returned to normal and the project was completed. Kaka, Dhake and Chanji were appointed to arrange the classes and prepare the premises to function as a school. Their work was approved by Baba and he shared his personal food with them as a reward.
Naval supervised the dismantling of the Dharmshala and the leper ward. By evening nothing remained but marks on the ground where they stood. After the busy day, the mandali found time to play cricket. Late in the evening Kaka "failed to grasp one of Baba's gestures;" Baba pushed him and he fell, striking his head on a rock. In an "excited" mood Baba inspected the school arrangements and found them wanting. Meanwhile many mandali were reported to have gone to sleep in the Makan. They were summoned and asked to go to bed at 11 PM and get up at 5 AM starting the following day. Peace restored, all retired.
The sheds near the leper ward were removed and the area around the school was cleared of grass and thorns, making it suitable as a playground for the boys. Baba gave the mandali a riddle and promised milk and jelebis to those who came up with the correct answer. (See Lord Meher, Vol. 3, p. 868)
"Who says one thing and does another?Although Dhake and Rustomji received scores of 10 and 4 (or perhaps 7) out of 100 for their replies, Baba was required to explain the riddle:
"If the three go, one comes.
"If four die, one is afraid.
"Two are false; one is real."
"One who says one thing and does another is a hypocrite.Baba then asked them to solve this mathematical riddle: "16 - 100 = 0."
"If the three go, one comes, it means that if lust, greed and anger are burned up, then God comes.
"If four die, one is afraid, it means that if lust, greed, anger and hope die, Maya is afraid.
"If two are false, one is real, it means that duality is false, the state of unity is real."
Again no one could guess its answer and Baba explained, "If so (100 in the Hindi language) is taken from sola (16), la is left, which according to the Muslims means nothing or zero." (See Lord Meher, Vol. 3, p. 868)
For three days the mandali worked to dismantle the original school premises, starting at 5 AM daily, with a break for milk tea at 7 AM. The number of departing boys increased daily as parents and guardians collected them. Unneeded teachers were released and many changes were introduced in the school schedule as a result of the new arrangements. With great effort examinations were administered to the remaining students.
Preparations were made for the coming Divali holidays. During this period, Baba took nearly all the mandali with him by turns for dinner at Kaka's place.
Part 86: The Combined Diary
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