DISOBEDIENCE PUNISHED

 
February 25, 1922

While some of us were sitting about Baba near the hut at about ten in the morning, Doctor [Abdul Ghani] was marked to have come from Bombay. He left the carriage on the road and came walking through the adjoining fields with a heavy-looking basket of fruits and sweets on his shoulder and a broad smile on his face.

Quite unexpectedly Baba seemed to be very upset, and he took Doctor right and left for coming to Poona without permission! So much so that the basket Doctor has brought from Bombay was thrown down the well nearby, with all its fine contents!

After some time the atmosphere got cooled down, when Doctor related that as per the present custom, he first went to Babajan at Charbawdi(1) before coming here to the hut. There Babajan gave him a sound hammering all over his face and head by keeping hold of his throat with one hand and at the same time telling him to go away.

Now as soon as he escapes from Babajan, thinking of getting a nice welcome from Meher Baba, here too he got the threat of his life. But this impressed us very much as something in common between Meher Baba and Babajan, and the necessity of following Baba's orders to the letter.

(1) Charbawdi is the part of Poona where Babajan had her seat.