On August 23rd, (1929) Baba wished to proceed to Aurangabad, and they departed in the bus at three in the afternoon. Many devotees from Dhulia came to see Baba off; Kalemama and his family bid Baba farewell with an especially heavy heart.
After the bus had gone some distance, Baba changed his mind and gave Padri directions to drive first to Malegaon. When they arrived, Buasaheb asked, “Now, where in the hell do we go from here?”
This displeased Baba and he answered sharply, “From the start, I declared my intention of proceeding to Aurangabad. So why do you ask me this question? Since it’s now obvious that you think me to be a fool, tell me where you want to go. Meherabad, Nasik or Panchgani?” Concluding, Baba spelled out, “Those of you who want to go to Meherabad should pack for your respective homes immediately.”
On the verge of losing control of his tongue, Buasaheb began packing his belongings to leave. Baba called him back and explained, “You cannot understand these sudden and frequent changes of my plans. There is a great mystery behind making these changes. Stick to me and bear everything with patience. I know what I am doing.”
Like Ram, he said he had a bow.
He shot arrows into the heart,
piercing the veil of the ego-mind
in order to create a feeling of love.
Since Chhagan’s departure, Padri had become one of Baba’s favorite targets for taunting. As Padri was driving, Baba shot his arrows at him, gesturing, “When I tell you to drive fast, why don’t you do it? Why do you ignore me?”
“Baba, the condition of the road is very bad,” said Padri. “If I were to accelerate, there might be an accident.”
“That means you know more than I do!” snapped Baba. “Has your father ever driven a bus?”
“My father was a driver; now I’m one, too!” (1)
“You have the features of an animal,” exclaimed Baba, “you look like a giraffe! Besides being tall, you talk quite tall!” Padri stopped the bus.
As Baba continued teasing him, Padri stood up to leave. Baba motioned to him, “I will beat you soundly and tie you up so you won’t be able to leave. Now sit down, stupid!”
After the situation calmed down, Baba led the group to visit the Malegaon bazaar. At one point, they stopped for tea at a restaurant. Padri was still steaming inside from the bruising of his ego and refused the tea. Baba grabbed hold of him and handed him a cup, forcing him to drink.
After tea, Baba asked the men, “Now where should we proceed?” They discussed it and settled on Yeola. They drove there and after driving around the town, camped under a tree for the night. They left for Aurangabad the next morning, August 24th.
(1) Padri’s father was a train engineer.
Lord Meher, Bhau Kalchuri, Original Publication, Vol. 4, pp. 1205 – 1206.