The Personification Of Love Bayajabai used to invite Baba to come in and rest a while whenever he came begging, but Baba would always politely decline. The most he would do was to sit in the shade in the forecourt of their house. Bayajabai would plead with Baba to sit inside the house and eat there in front of her but Baba would do as he pleased. Rarely would he sit in their forecourt and have his food there. Bayajabai would be ecstatic with happiness on those occasions when Baba ate in front of her. She would plead, "Eat a little more, try this curry?" and make him eat a little extra. "Have something to drink," she would beg Baba. Normally Baba ate bhakri (unleavened bread of coarsely ground millet) with a little curry. Sometimes he would ask for milk, curd, buttermilk, pickles, onion or pappadam (very thin chapati-like preparation of black gram, fried in oil or roasted over coals) and eat them with relish. Bayajabai would always keep these foods ready in case he asked for them. Bayajabai served Baba thus with great love and unswerving devotion for a long time. We are unfortunate that no written record is available to us of what Baba taught Bayajabai or what divine experiences he gave her. One incident is, however, available to us about Bayajabai from the reminiscences of Tatya Patil.
Radhakrishna Ayi was first staying at Pandharpur and later came to Shirdi. Once she decided to go on a pilgrimage to Pandharpur from Shirdi by foot. Bala Shimpi and Madhav Fasle also started along with her. They wanted to take part in the festival which would be held at Pandharpur on the 11th (ekadasi) day of the month of Ashaad. My mother, a few others, and I too decided to go to Pandharpur to take part in the festival. As Radhakrishna Ayi and her group had already left, we decided to go by cart as far as Ahmednagar and catch up with them, after which we could all proceed further by foot. My mother, my brother-in-law, Lakshmibai Shinde and a few other ladies all got ready for the trip. Before starting, we all went to the mosque to have the darshan of Baba and take his blessings for the trip. Baba blessed us and gave udi to each of us. Three carts packed with our stuff were standing ready under the tree at the village well. I went and broke a coconut at the Maruti temple so that our trip would go well without any problems, and later went to the temple of Saturn. About fifty villagers were standing at the village well to bid us farewell. While I was on my way to the temple of Saturn, I was surprised to see Baba standing where the Samadhi Mandir is at present. I broke a coconut at the temple of Saturn and came out. As I was coming out of the temple, Kondya, a Muslim devotee of Baba, came and told me that Baba was calling me. I went to Baba. He took me to the mosque. Some of the villagers who had come to bid us goodbye came with me to the mosque while the others stayed on at the well. I sat besides the railing at the mosque while Madhavrao Deshpande (Shama) sat opposite me. Madhavrao lit the pipe and gave it to Baba. Baba sat smoking. All were quiet. After a while Madhavrao said, "Deva (Oh, God) your Bayajabai and the others are all waiting for him to come so that they can go to Pandharpur. "Call Bayajabai," replied Baba. My mother hurried in and said, " Baba, have you sent for me? The sun has set and the dusk is deepening. We are all ready to start." Baba placidly said, "Mother, go home. Do not start today. Do not even start tomorrow. Start the day after tomorrow. Do not ask why. Do not consult anyone in this matter. Here, take this udi and go." My mother did not hesitate a second or even take time to think. She said, "Alright Baba, we will go the day after as you say." We unloaded the carts and sent them off. The friends and relatives who had come to see us off left for their homes. Later, Madhavrao saw the astrological calendar and charts and said that the day was not an auspicious one for travel. On the morning of the third day, we again got ready to travel. Baba cheerfully gave udi to each of us and came as far as the highway to see us off. We reached Punthamba as planned and after bathing and having a light repast got into the train and reached Bewoor by 8:00 a.m. We met Radhakrishna Ayi's group by nine a.m. That day we reached Narsingpur by lunchtime and had the darshan of Sri Narsing Maharaj. Starting again from there, we reached Pandharpur by the evening of the next day. Cholera struck Pandharpur by the eleventh day of the waxing moon and by the next day was raging throughout the town. Some of us wanted to leave immediately for Shirdi but I was adamant that we should stay till the day of the full moon. My mother was also scared. She met the mamalatdar, Sri Nanasaheb Chandorkar, who was an ardent devotee of Baba, and asked him to convince me to return to Shirdi. Nana Saheb sent for Bala Shimpi and me and advised us to return immediately to Shirdi. Baba knew that cholera would ravage Pandharpur, but seeing our enthusiasm for the trip could not forbid us to go to Pandharpur."
