Lateef presented a new bicycle to Meher Baba, and a lottery was proposed to decide to whom the Master should give it. All the tickets were sold to followers and it was decided that the drawing should be held during a picnic at the village of Chinchwad.
Meher Baba met there with his followers on Saturday, March 25th, (1922) and in the evening the lottery was held. Nervous won the new bicycle. But then the Master gave a strange order. Nervous’ old bicycle was taken in exchange and Baba ordered it to be broken into pieces and thrown into a nearby well. Shortly after this, Baba asked Nervous if he felt uneasy about his bicycle being destroyed and thrown away. Nervous expressed no regret; however, the other men were at a loss to understand why this order had been given, since Nervous’ bicycle was still in good condition.
After Meher Baba returned to Poona from Chinchwad, Baily informed him that while Baba was away he had inadvertently fallen into the well near the hut but was miraculously rescued from drowning by a stranger. When Baily was questioned what time the incident had occurred, the other men found out that it had happened at the exact hour when the pieces of Nervous’ bicycle were being thrown into a well! The men then realized why the Master had given such a strange order, and later he explained, “Instead of allowing Baily to drown, I sank the bicycle in the well. It was simply an exchange of gross mediums.”
Lord Meher, Bhau Kalchuri, Original Publication, Vol. 2, pp. 352 – 353.