Since returning to Meherazad, Bhau’s nightwatch duties were to begin each day from 2:30 or 3:00 P.M. But Baba would not call him then, since the women would be with him. Instead, Bhau was made to sit a short distance away on Rano’s verandah (because Baba might call him at any time), and Baba would send for him when the women left, usually at 5:00 P.M. Bhau could not see any justification for his being on call at 3:00 P.M. and made to wait on the verandah for two hours every day. He had the Hindi correspondence to reply to and had no other time in which to write the letters.
… Thus, he had only two hours at his disposal — from 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. — during which time he had to bathe, have lunch, attend to the Hindi correspondence, and so forth. At times, there was so much correspondence that there was not sufficient time to reply to all of the letters, and consequently Bhau was irritated at being made to sit idle for two hours each day. Many days passed like this, with Bhau ordered to sit on the verandah from 3 until 5:00 P.M., doing what he thought was nothing.
One morning in the hall, Baba instructed Bhau, “Send replies to all the letters received today,” and he indicated one in particular was urgent. But, despite his best efforts, Bhau could not complete the task before he went to wait on Rano’s verandah.
At 5:00 P.M., Baba called him into his room and asked, “Did you finish that letter?”
Frustrated, Bhau blurted out, “Where is the time for me, Baba? I have no time to reply to correspondence. I have been sitting on the verandah without work since three o’clock! I keep waiting and waiting, wondering when you will call me, but you never call me before five o’clock. I have to waste two hours every day in this way and have no time to answer correspondence.”
Baba replied, “What are you saying? You are a fool! Do you think you are sitting unnecessarily? Do you think you are without work? Waiting for my call is the greatest possible work you can ever do! The work I extract from you by making you sit on the verandah cannot compare with replying to letters.
“Rishis [sages] and munis [silent yogis] in the Himalayas sit on beds of nails in the snow, so as to keep awake in my remembrance. They wait for my call for years — still I do not meet them. The nails bite into their flesh, they have no sleep, they undergo untold suffering, waiting for me until their last breath. But still I don’t send for them.
“And here you are, sitting comfortably on a chair waiting for me. And it is definite that I will send for you at five o’clock. You should be happy that I call you within just two hours. You do not have to sit for years waiting for my call. I do not make you sit unnecessarily. Can it ever be a ‘waste’ of your time to wait for my call? You think you are sitting there without work. Tell me, is it not work to wait for my call? You have no idea what important work you are doing.”
And Bhau realized the truth in what Baba was saying.
-www.lordmeher.org, p5083
Aug, 1964; Meherazad