Baba cares little for fruit in any form—he must have been fed up with it!

"Although Baba has undergone severe and very long fasts in the old days, of late years we've noticed his body cannot stand it with the same indifference. Despite our anxiety, however, he stood the fast very well. The last few days he was looking wan and tired, but he said that was because of the intensive work he was putting in, and not the fast. The Mandali and we were allowed to share comparatively very little—as usual Baba took on himself by far the greater burden . . . During the 40 days the Mandali observed in non-stop relays, day and night, a repetition of God's Name.

"According to Baba's orders, on the 9th, 56 poor people were given a free meal, all the girls of the little orphanage here received new clothes, and the 50-odd leper patients of the Leper Clinic near here were provided with a new garment each. Could we but see the inner wealth he imparts with these outward acts of compassion!

"At midnight on the 9th, at the stroke of 12, when Baba clapped, we loudly called out God's Name. Those few moments, while we stood in readiness, straining for Baba's clap, were so wonderfully tense!

“On the 10th, Baba broke his fast with a light meal . . . Some days later Baba went with a few of the Mandali to Khuldabad—a quiet little place about 300 miles away—with historical and spiritual associations. Sai Baba (Upasni Maharaj's Master) spent his childhood there. Baba went for a 'rest and change'—though I can't imagine what that can mean for dear Baba.”

 

. . . "We celebrated Baba's Birthday on the 11th,—according to the Zoroastrian Calendar (which I believe does not observe the leap year, so that every few years the date changes). We began it at 5 a.m., the hour of His Birth, with His "jai", and seven fireworks salutes—they resound with a bang like guns—then the birthday song. Baba looked so beautiful in the pink coat and the green and gold turban M. had fixed from her sari. We filled the house with all the flowers we could possibly obtain, and drew "rangooli" on the floor-—designs made with a chalky powder, manipulated with the first two fingers of the right hand; interspersed with colored powders in between the patterns . . .