On returning from the last trip we stopped to look at a car about 100 feet from the road, at the bottom of a small ravine, nose in the bed of a stream. Subsequent inquiries gave its history:- Three men left in a red Morris-8, for Byramangala to distribute pamphlets against Baba there. In all they had five accidents that day. In the first two they hit bullock carts, with not much damage. The first accident frightened the driver, and he thought that perhaps it was because they were opposing Baba that this had happened. His pals said "What rot" and went on.

The third time they hit a lorry, and injured its driver a bit, and later knocked down a man but did not stop for fear of the police. The fifth and last, was on returning when they hit two carts in one place, and were bounced down an embankment, and then 50 or more feet into the ravine, car a thorough wreck. None of the car's occupants, almost miraculously, were badly hurt, and two were taken to Victoria Hospital for treatment, one admitted for observation, with no serious injury; amazing escape after seeing the state of the car. One bullock cart had overturned, and its driver extricated from under a pile of wood, one bullock with right back leg broken, poor thing. Both bullock men not seriously hurt however. All this we got from the car driver, who is in the hospital, and whom I discovered this morning in the Victoria Hospital. This evening Baba Das went and had a chat with him and got the whole tale. As Dr. Ghani says, quoting an old Persian couplet:- "Do what you like with God, the Absolute, but beware what you do with saints."

Today Baba gave Nilu and me a dressing down, saying we were rotten Drs. There was also a dust-up because we left S. behind in the first load, by a mistake, and because the distribution of ladhus did not go well. This evening, Padri brought back a 9 ft. python from Byramangala site. They say there are lots of them there; the other day he brought a huge black scorpion from the site too; some place.

25/12/39    Today Baba gave me a Xmas card, iced cake, some fruit and a bunch of flowers as a present with embrace and blessings. His orders were to eat the cake at every meal, and call Nilu to watch me eat it, and not give him any. I pleaded for Nilu after, to give him some; Baba said give him a little piece only or I get a slap from Baba.

At 9:25 a.m. Nilu and I were called in to see Baba in His room; He had angina, pain over his heart. The pain lasted 2 minutes, and ended at 9:29 a.m. Baba asked us to note the time. A suggestion by Aiyangar has been adopted to stop all pamphleteering, and to cease pestering the Dewan so much; also not to tell the innermost secrets to one who is likely to babble them about. Yesterday Dr. Ghani read out his proposed reply to some Arya Samajisho who had sent a list of ridiculous questions to be answered by Baba.

2/1/40   Nilu and I are to give the O.K. to the drainage plan, for the Centre. Baba has been buttering me up for the last few days; don't quite know why, but no doubt will get the opposite soon again, calling me a good for nothing. I suppose one must become indifferent to both. Baba goes off Jan. 12th Mast hunting with Eruch, Kaka, Gustadji and Jal Kerawala.

Nilu has just been telling me of a row between two of the "boys" in front of Baba when they were most abusive, outdoing each other. Baba apparently enjoying all this called Nilu in to give them both injections, whereupon the one disputant said he would shout at the top of his voice, and the other said it would do him, (the other man) good. The first man is no doubt very hot-headed and the cause of trouble often, but Baba seems to enjoy them.