Thana, 13th September, 1936
Then he attended on me and attended to everything as a peon would do, till the end of the twelfth day ceremony. Throughout the proceedings he showed his special knowledge of the ceremonies, i.e., he told the priest to take pinda first to Ramkund. He told me to retain in my grip the bones I brought, immersed in the waters of the Godavari at Ramkund till the close of the ceremony. The bones should be left in a particular hollow there and kept in position by pressure of the hand to prevent their being washed away by force of the current. My surprise was that even as I kept them they were quickly dissolving as though they were sugarcandy. On the twelfth day, he got a wire requiring his presence back at Bombay. He accounted to me for every pie he had received from me. He took me to the chief temples at Nasik. A Sanyasi teacher at one of the temples recognized him and to him he showed the wire. My priest said the G.S. was a man of extraordinary cleverness, e.g. when the priest started ceremonies without the worship of Ganesha (considering it unnecessary for inauspicious ceremonies), G.S. interposed and bade him start it and when the priest still entertained doubts, made him refer the matter to a learned authority who agreed with G.S. He parted from me at Nasik that day and promised to call at my place, i.e., Andheri. He gave me his name and address. After my return home, seeing that my beneficient friend did not turn up I went to the address given viz., "G.S., peon, Bombay Art School" and made inquiries and asked his fellow peon about him. They all said there was no such person at all known to them. The principal (the "Saheb") also said the same. Who was this 'man' that took such enormous pains (without any remuneration or prospect of it) and gave me such splendid help in securing Sadgati for my wife at Nasik by proper performance of all the ceremonies? Who can it be but Sai Baba?
In 1927, I went to Shirdi for chowla, i.e., tuft ceremony of Kaluram. Then Baba's direction to me to go to Deopur which I had neglected till then was again stressed on me, through another saint who had come up to Shirdi. That was Nanu Maharaj or Sripad Narsoba Panchlegankar, aged only fifteen. He asked me without any intimation to him of what or who I was or what Baba told me about anugraha (initiation).
"Have you been to Deopur?”
I was taken aback. I answered in the negative.
N: Why?
I: There is no one at Deopur older than myself (in my Guru's line) for me to accept my Guru and get anugraha.
N: What of that? My Guru is younger than I. His name is 'Doi Pode' and your Guru's name is Bhagavat.
Sri Narsoba promised to show me his Guru later. Accepting this reminder, I carried out Sai Baba's order and went to Deopur and accepted anugraha. I had never met Sri Narsoba before. Next year, I learnt that Narsoba was arriving at Bombay V.T. As his train steamed in and came to a stop, from his compartment he beckoned to me as I stood amidst a crowd and showed me his Guru, an eight-year-old youth, Sripad Ramakrishna Doi Pode. Sri Narsoba is doing "Sudhi" work; I have not met him after 1928. His Guru is still a student (for Matriculation Exam.) at Guntur (Madras Presidency).