This calculation has made me feel the necessity of adjusting everything so that alongside the ordinary, normal life of begging, et cetera, you should be able to face the abnormal and extraordinary happenings, too, in as easy a manner as possible. If the picture I have in mind takes shape, the abnormal and extraordinary happenings for you all from April 1950 onward will be an everyday affair.
Although I said we stay at Hardwar for two or three months, it does not mean we stay there all the time. I may arrange for the ladies to stay at the place and we shall perhaps keep on going and coming. That is the hazy picture I have before my mind's eye at the moment. I can say this much, that after we leave Hardwar, life for us will be life in the real sense.
All this has made me feel that before we leave Benares on the 10th of December, we should be able to stay in Benares for 25 days. That is the calculation I was doing last night. After the 1st of January, wherever we stay, it will not be for training purposes. It all needs calculation and adjustment which will have to be done thoroughly at Benares before we leave the place. In this connection, I may perhaps require Don to go ahead to Dehra Dun or Delhi to secure or study maps and to bring some things I require for the ladies.
Therefore the Arrangementwalas were informed about the 25-day stay in Benares, and Sadashiv Patil was sent this telegram c/o the stationmaster at the Benares Cantonment:
We leave Belgaum on 12th November arriving Mughal Sarai 15th early morning and will stay in Benares bungalow from 15th November for twenty-five days. Arrange food for twenty-five days for Rs.600. Wire reply immediately.
— William Donkin
After tea in the afternoon, Baba asked Don to study the map and inform him of the nearest and most convenient route from Benares to Hardwar which they could travel on foot.
Baba then explained to the men, "The four ladies have nothing to do with conditions. I decide everything for them. But since they are to be with us to the end, I keep on explaining the conditions to them.
"My oath is so irrevocable that from January 1, not a single one from among you will remain with me. That is what I foresee.