THE ENVY OF THE GODS!

 
19th October 1949, We are at Sirur, living at the cinema. Feel rested after 17-mile walk yesterday. [Dr. Goher]

Discussing their walk from Supa, Baba teased them [the men companions]: "The women completed the 16 miles with ease. In fact, they were complaining that they were handicapped by being unable to increase their pace because you were so slow."

That evening, the women had a meal of rice and daal with Baba that had been ordered from a restaurant. Baba said they must get up at 4:00 A.M. the next morning to take a bus to their next stop. He wanted to get away while it was still dark and the townspeople were not up and about.

But that night was the Diwali "Festival of Lights." Soon a firecracker went off. Then another and another. As the night wore on, it got worse. More and more firecrackers were lit. Baba was trying to rest in a far corner of the stage, but at 11:00 P.M., he called Goher and asked, "What is all this noise? I want to rest and I can't. Go and tell the companions."

Goher could not reach the men companions from behind the stage, as the screen blocked that side, so she had to walk around the hall to them. When she told them, some of them went to the owner's house, but the man said that he was helpless to prevent people from lighting firecrackers on Diwali. No one knew what to do. They were so tired & wanted to rest but could not.

Baba lay down again, but he was not pleased. Mehera remembered, "We thought it would stop by 11:00, but it didn't. Then, towards 12:00, Baba clapped his hands and said, ‘What is this? I can't rest. This is very disturbing.'

"The mandali went out to try to stop it, but whom to tell? There were so many houses, and you couldn't stop them from lighting fireworks, because it was Diwali and it is traditional to celebrate it.

"So Baba said, ‘Now get up and all pack.'

"We had to get up and pack our bedding and bags. No cup of tea or anything. Baba told us to board the bus [that had been hired and was waiting outside]. We thought now it is the middle of the night, so we'll quietly steal into the bus and be seated, and nobody will be there to trouble Baba to give darshan or to disturb him. But somehow, word got round of our departure, and people thronged through the lane to see Baba.

"When Baba was told the crowd would not disperse, he said it was all right to let them stay, as long as no one bowed down to him or tried to take his darshan. Quietly and solemnly, the people stood, as Baba and the rest of us walked down the narrow aisle they made leading to the bus."

Although no one bowed to Baba, Mehera recalled, "We felt so awkward, as people bowed to us."

The men companions had already packed the large State Transport bus and tied a sheet as a screen between the men in the back seats and the women in the front few rows with Baba. Mehera continued: "The seats were very narrow, not permitting us to sit comfortably; but what with fatigue from the previous journey and lack of sleep, we found ourselves nodding and swaying with the motion of the bus.

"Goher, I remember, was seated behind the driver and had a full view of the back of his cap. In the semidarkness, it looked like a very tempting round cushion, and Baba half- jokingly warned her not to fall forward or she might find herself resting on this enticing pillow."

The bus rattled noisily, but Mani too was dozing. Mehera stayed awake, looking at Baba to see what he was doing, and thought, "It is good we are going to Poona by bus, as [walking] on the road someone might have known Baba and disturbed him."

When they approached Poona two hours later, Baba wished to have tea outside the city to avoid being recognized, and the companions were told to find a suitable restaurant. "We were so happy to hear this," Mehera said, as they had left in the middle of the night without drinking tea. "Baba made us appreciate everything so much."

They drove through the city and stopped at an Irani café on the other side of the town, towards Satara. Baba had tied his scarf so that his braid could not be seen, and he got down to take two teacups from the men companions and bring them to Mehera and one of the others. Goher brought two more, and they had tea, bread, and butter (in the bus).

"Are you comfortable?" Baba asked. "Did you eat well?"

"Everything tasted so nice," Mehera recalled.

Their journey continued, and the bus did not stop again until they reached Belgaum late that evening, where Vishnu had arranged their stay in a rural suburb called Thalakwadi. It took them an hour to find the place (it was already dark), and here too it was raining heavily and the road leading to the farm had become muddy. Moreover, a hut with a tile roof and tatta walls, that was to have been constructed for the men companions, was not yet ready. The cement in the new flooring was still wet, and dirt and slush were everywhere. In the pouring rain, it was difficult to unload the truck, so only essential articles were taken out, and the rest left to be unloaded the next day.

"These discomforts are the first step toward satyanashi [total ruination]," Baba told the men, "which we have to pass through."

The next day, he remarked, "If the training period turns out to be successful, our life of hopelessness will be the envy of the gods!"