THE GOD-MAN The Life, Journeys and Work of Meher Baba with an ...

74 THE GOD-MANthe teachers and staff of the school, and eight days later he began a fast, taking nothing but milkor weak tea. This fast continued for five months. During November Baba devoted two hours eachevening to teaching the boys himself, using of course the alphabet board. This continued until 20December, when Baba confined himself to a small double hut near the school, which had beenbuilt by his orders about five months earlier. The hut was about six feet in length and four feetwide, and consisted of two rooms, one above the other. He remained in seclusion in this placeuntil 28 February 1928, the following year. He received visitors and others in the upper room,which was approached by an outside staircase. The day on which he went into seclusion Babagave orders that 'All the boys in the Institution must not be touched with the hand by anyone,including the class teachers and the school and ashram authorities'.From this time onwards certain of the boys manifested emotional tendencies, devotingthemselves to meditation which often led to periods of weeping. In the New Year this practice ofweeping spread to the whole school and after a time disorganized the work of the classes. At thebeginning of February Baba gave orders that the classes were to be strictly conducted, though hedid not otherwise check the displays of emotion. Rumours as to what was happening in the schoolreached the parents, some of whom were disturbed, and several of the boys were taken away,including a favourite pupil, Aga Ali. On the day after this boy was removed by his father Babaleft his retirement on the hill and went into Meherabad below, returning to his hut. Two of thedisciples desired to go after Ali and his father to induce the latter to permit the boy to return, andBaba gave his consent, saying that unless Ali returned within seven days the school would beclosed. On the sixth day the two envoys came back from Bombay, unsuccessful, but Baba badethem try again. Next day Ali returned; he had escaped from his father the previous evening, hadcaught the Madras mail train, and got off at Ahmednagar. Soon after his arrival there came amessage from Bombay to say that Ali's father was willing for the boy to return to school; but hedid not know of the boy's escape, and in the evening he turned up with the intention of bringinghis son home again. Efforts were made to dissuade him, which succeeded by the followingmorning, and the father went back alone, having signed a document agreeing to his son remainingat the school.In March the school was divided into two sections, the ordinary section where the boys pursuedthe normal studies, and the 'Prem (Love) Ashram', the special section of the school for chosen boys,