615    WORKING LIKE MULES!

promise that I do not pay attention to your insulting behavior. Had it been anyone else of the mandali who said what you said, I would have killed him!"

This silenced Gustadji and the other men. Gustadji reestablished himself as the household manager, and Baba promised once again not to interfere. But the Master is beyond promises, and words cannot bind him. There was a deeper significance to his creating an uproar over the food. The Hindu mandali had their food cooked separately and, according to their orthodox views, would not eat food prepared by others. This confrontation was the beginning of doing away with their prejudice. The Master, in a very natural way, abolished this distinction of different food for different mandali – but it was to require two more years to do so.

On April 20th, Gulmai and Rustom arrived at four in the afternoon with special food for Baba. They brought a copy of the Gujarati newspaper Akhbar, in which a review of Upasni Maharaj's biography appeared. Sohrabji Desai had written an article in the same newspaper stating that he had met Meher Baba and fully believed that he was "the coming of the Jagat Guru - Master of the universe, the Avatar!"

Gulmai used to come every day to Meherabad, bringing Baba's food. Due to her financial help, as well as that of Rustom and Adi, the system of work in Meherabad was greatly facilitated. The stone flooring for the Jhopdi was expected to be completed within a week but was finished in only two days. The month of April is the middle of summer in Maharashtra state and the heat was intense, but despite this, much work was accomplished.

The next morning, while the mandali were engaged in their duties, Baba came and said, "Today Naval is coming and he will definitely bring fruit for all." He repeated this, but when Naval arrived from Bombay, with his wife Dina and her mother Rupamai, he had not brought any fruit. Baba scolded him for disappointing the mandali and said, "Just see how they are slaving away in the summer sun. They are working like mules! But there is no need for them to feel desperate; some other treat will surely come."

After a short time, Gulmai and Rustom arrived from Ahmednagar with a bundle of sweets, along with the happy news that Freiny had given birth to a son that day. Baba distributed Sweets among the mandali in honor of the happy occasion. The Master named the newborn child after himself – Merwan. ‡