They arrived in Shimoga at 10:00 A.M., where they were received by B. S. Amir Ahmed and B. Syed Mahmood. These two brothers had met Baba in Bangalore and invited him to Shimoga, so Baba had included the stop on his itinerary. Baba was taken to see the site of a gold mine they owned, and he indicated to them where to begin digging.
The brothers (with Ghani's personal guidance) had made good arrangements for Baba's group, and the townspeople of Shimoga came for darshan. Baba did not really wish to meet anyone during the tour, but he granted the sincere prayer of both brothers. Darshan was given to the local people, and a group photo was taken.
During the tour, Baba continued to sit in seclusion for half an hour each day, and the women were again ordered to maintain absolute silence during this period. Invariably, however, there would always be some noise. Baba finally instructed that they were to sit on their mattresses without moving for 30 minutes. In Shimoga, Soonamasi's alarm clock stopped working, and Gulamasi was sitting on her bed trying to repair it during Baba's seclusion time. Suddenly, in the midst of that still, silent atmosphere, the alarm began ringing. Knowing this would displease Baba, the women became so frightened that their hearts were thumping. They quickly buried the ringing clock under a heap of pillows, but its loud ringing could still be heard. Baba immediately came out of his room and reprimanded Gulamasi, but not too harshly. In this instance, he seemed to be more amused than upset.
In the afternoon of 3 April, Baba decided to go to see Jog Falls near Gersoppa, 63 miles away. Before leaving, he directed Don and the other drivers to follow his car.1 On the way, they encountered a section of the road that was decorated with beautiful arches raised over it, through which cars passed. But with the throng of people there and all the luggage piled on top of the bus, it would have been difficult to drive it through the crowd and under the arches. Kaka told Don to take the bus around the town, via a circuitous route, and Don did so. They had not gotten far, however, when the bus got stuck in a deep hole. With much difficulty and with the help of hired bullocks from the village, the bus was finally dragged out.
Footnotes
- 1.The Shimoga hosts went also, in their own car.