Clerk, Collector's Office, Revenue Department, (Old Customs House) living at Venkateshwar Press, Chawl, near Sandhurst Road, Bombay
23rd September, 1936.
Next my wife had a dream here at Santa Cruz of Baba's appearing before her and receiving Pada Pooja from her. Mr. N.G.Chandorkar interpreted it to mean that Baba wanted her to start regular Pada Pooja of Baba at home and so bade her to go to Shirdi with two silver Padukas. She did so. When she went up to Baba, the latter who was sitting with legs folded stretched out his legs of his own accord and said, "Place the Padukas on these and do Pooja". Then my wife placed each of Padukas on each foot of Baba and worshipped them. Baba then said to Nana Saheb "See, Mother has cut off and carried away my feet" and himself picked up the two Padukas and handed them over to my wife. Ever since that date, she is daily worshipping these Padukas.
Ever since my first visit, I was having my dinner at the Mosque with Baba. Baba with his own hand stuffed all food into our plates and cups in such large quantity. Instead of throwing away such valuable prasad I asked my niece to come up and take away about three-fourth of what was served to me and that sufficed to feed my family. Yet what I ate warded off all hunger or appetite for a night meal. Baba almost invariably gave dessert (i.e., fruits &c) at the end of the meal. But when I went up with Babu, Baba noticed that Babu did not care for cooked food and served mangoes and fruits first, so that Babu might have a full meal. When other children were born, I would take the three children with me including Babu, to the Mosque to dine with Baba.
My last visit to Baba was in May, 1918. I had taken with me Rs.3800 and overstayed my intended period, on account of Baba's insistence. Baba's unuttered but evident practice with those whom he loved was to deplete their resources. "I take away the wealth of those I love". So when I returned from Shirdi after the month's stay, my money was reduced to minus Rs.1200. In fact, I had borrowed that sum from an acquaintance, a Veterinary Doctor of Poona and returned it to him after coming home.
An incident relating to Babu's illness as an infant ought chronologically to be placed before this. When Babu was 3 or 4 years old, he had serious illness. We had Madhava Bhat, a learned and pious (and on the whole well-to-do) Telugu priest at home, who was greatly attached to the family and carried on Mantra Japa and Poqja in our house for our benefit. He noticed Babu's serious illness with concern. He had first no sympathy with our worship of Baba. He fancied that Babu's illness was due to our worshipping a Moslem Saint, viz Sai Baba, but he dared not give utterance to his thought.
One night he had a dream. He saw a figure (which from the photo we had, he recognised to be Sai Baba) sitting on the top of the staircase, holding a baton (Sota) in one hand. That figure (Baba) told him "What do you mean? I am the Lord of this house". The priest kept this dream to himself for a time. (He had asked us to go and make a vow to Datta for the child's cure but he had been told that Baba was Datta himself).
Later Babu's condition was much worse than before. The priest noted it with concern. He ran up at once to Baba's photo and loudly prayed thus: "If the child should improve sufficiently by 4 p.m. so as to be brought downstairs, then I will agree that you are Datta". Within a short time of this prayer, the child's temperature was getting lower and by 4 p.m. he wanted to be carried down for amusement and his mother took him downstairs. Madhav Bhat was converted and felt that Sai Baba was really Datta. And he vowed he would pay him a dakshina of Rs. 120 and paid it. The Pandit wanted to get a son and vowed he would pay Rs. 108 if he got one. He got one and then paid Rs. 108 to Baba. But at that very time, the Pandit vowed he would pay Rs. 1,008 if my (ie., Pradhan's) ambition should be achieved. When Mr.Deshpande referred to the gift of Rs. 108 as large, Baba belittled it and said, "He is giving me much more", evidently referring to the vow of Rs. 1,008.