"These wars and disturbances will continue, and three-quarters of humanity will be wiped out! For how can the people from Hell mix with the people from Heaven? Those from Hell must be wiped out!"

Jala Tapasvi concluded: "The Avatar will manifest in twenty-two years [1968], but even then, like other Avatars before him, he will be ridiculed by the majority of people, and his real fame will only spread after his death." As usual, Eruch and Kaka had not once referred to Meher Baba, but when Jala Tapasvi later saw Baba in a house in Rishikesh, he cried out: "The Avatar has come!" Baba was happy with the contact.

There were many strange characters in Rishikesh, but one who remains nameless is noteworthy, though contact with him was not to Baba's satisfaction. He was a foreboding, strange recluse who was well known but whose whereabouts in Rishikesh no one dared to divulge for fear of being cursed. Eruch, after much inquiry, found this recluse who had closeted himself in a hut on the river bank in Rishikesh. When the recluse asked who he was bringing, Eruch replied, "My father." Baba arrived, but the contact was not to his liking, because during it the recluse pestered Baba with inane questions such as, "How many sons besides this one (meaning Eruch) do you have?" As a young man this seeker was said to have wandered through the jungles for years living only on leaves and roots before settling in Rishikesh. He was emaciated since he ate only one chapati and a little dal daily; nevertheless he was a forbidding character if angered.

DURING THIS PERIOD the marriage of Krishna Nair, Baba's night watchman took place. Several years before, the following incident occurred while Baba was staying in Dehra Dun in 1942. Krishna would take a walk every evening at five o'clock before going to Baba's room for nightwatch. Opposite their bungalow was a girls' school. Four girls used to watch Krishna, and one of them asked him if she could come with him for a walk. Krishna felt extremely uncomfortable around women. "I didn't want to see any woman's face," he recollected. "I disliked women."

His disgust was so great that when the girl innocently asked to accompany him, he spit in her face. The girl's feelings were hurt and she complained to Baba. Baba called Krishna and asked for his side of the story. "You have done a terrible thing," Baba reprimanded.