"I knew it made him very happy," Baba later informed the mandali.
Although it was rainy, chilly weather at the time in Ceylon and Baba was highly susceptible to catching colds, he allowed the mast to indulge himself in this manner.
Hickgalla Estate was a coconut plantation, and Baba gave coconuts to each of the women to eat one day.
But to Rano he said, "Don't eat it! It will affect your throat."
Rano replied, "In America I used to eat lots of coconuts and they never gave me a sore throat."
"Why do you always argue?" Baba scolded. "Why don't you listen to what I say?"
Baba went on warning her not to eat the coconut, and at last Rano gave in and said, "I won't eat it, since it will affect my throat." This answer pleased Baba and he forgave her.
As usual, Baba was busy in mast work, and would sometimes leave Colombo to contact different masts. His trip to Ceylon was primarily for this purpose, though no detailed information is available of the masts whom Baba contacted. But it is also significant that he traveled with such a large group of both men and women during wartime. Although the women could not move about freely, each had a duty to perform. Each person was kept under the Master's grindstone. Their minds were continually being assailed, to crush their egos — a state not possible to describe.
News of Baba's residence near Colombo spread as an article and editorial about Baba was printed in the Sunday edition of the Times of Ceylon on the 10th. A few people arrived at the bungalow for his darshan, but Baba did not meet them because of his seclusion. He had publicly declared that he would be in seclusion for one year, from August 1940 to August 1941.
Baba went to see a new bungalow in Kandy with Kitty, Rano, Don, Vishnu, Baidul and Chanji on 13 November, and he approved of it. Three days later on the 16th, Baba and the group left Veyangoda for Kandy at 8:30 A.M. in two buses, a car and a truck for their luggage. Two hours later they arrived at the bungalow, called Primrose Hill Tea Estate on Halloluwa Road, and found it very beautiful. Baba stayed on the hill with the men mandali and Chatti Baba. The women were accommodated separately at the foot of the hill.