How did Sai Baba use the simple act of grinding wheat to stop a cholera epidemic?

Sai Baba addressed a cholera epidemic in a unique and symbolic way. As recounted in Chapter 1, he began grinding wheat in the mosque, an act that initially puzzled onlookers. The wheat itself was not the focus; it was a physical representation of the cholera epidemic that was plaguing the village. By grinding the wheat into flour, he was symbolically grinding the disease into submission. The process was completed when he commanded the village women, who had helped him, to take the resulting flour and cast it out on the village boundary. This act of throwing the "flour" on the outskirts served to drive the epidemic away from the community, and from that point, the disease began to recede, demonstrating Baba's extraordinary methods for protecting his devotees.