10/10/98 (This was the main day of the so-called 'Paduka' ceremonies - i.e. Sandal Ceremonies) Arrived at mandir gate about 6.05 to find the ladies’ nagarsankirtan arriving at Ganesha. (Comment: nagarsankirtan is ritual bhajan singing while walking around the ashram, ending at a statue of Ganesh). The benches were already full!! And music was already playing in the Kulwant Hall. Today, Swami is expected to go round the ashram (the usual nagarsankirtan route) in the golden chariot. We’ll see! Narasimhan was not in at 8.30. so I’m off the hook. (Comment: It became something of a problem that Narasimhan wanted to talk to me at every opportunity, so that I could not even find enough time for daily chores. Nevertheless, I enjoyed his company, but tried to limit it to one long visit per day). Went to see N. at 10.30 un til 11.47. Mr. Agarwal came. N. recounted several incidents again. As to donations – the racehorse owner whose offer of millions Swami turned down was a Parsee from Bombay. Mr. Singh was also a racehorse owner & copyright agent – he wanted to donate money to Sai. But he dies without winning the case (he could have accepted a lump sum that was favourable, and Swami called him foolish to pursue litigation).

The next entry was a very brief one. considering the actual discussion we had. The issue came up when I asked VKN why he had not edited out the long account by Sai Baba in a discourse about how his mother appeared as a ghost to the boys who were sharing his apartment. VKN said he did not like that material, considering it a rambling and unlikely story. but it had to be there to fill out the discourse. (See scan here) I said that, considering that allegations of homosexuality and even pedophilia had been made by Tal Brooke in the past, it seemed very injudicious to state that boys shared his rooms, as Sai Baba did.

On Swami having boys in his apartment – the boys sleep on the ground floor, Swami in his room on the floor above, on his own. (Despite this, in his discourse, Sai Baba stated definitively "Three boys sleep in Swami's room." Either VKN did not recall this or was misleading me because of the sensitivity of the subject) N. holds that such relationships of elderly men to young boys is commonplace in India- (as in the guru-chela relationship we note). It is the Western mind that sees something fishy there – (and also which condemns homosexuality so roundly too). (Comment: This last was VKN's view - however, I did not want to be too invasive and point out to him that homosexuality was a crime in India, though no longer so in most Western countries. I demurred from asking the crucial question - which seemed unnecessary due to my faith still being placed in Sai Baba but which I later have wished I pressed hom... namely, did he know that Sathya Sai baba had homosexual relations. I am convinced from the various non-verbal signs and silences that he did know this damning fact - damning because of Sai Baba's lies about his purity and preachings about sexual abstinence outside marriage etc. etc.)

Swami Himself planned the security of his new quarters! Says Narasimhan. I told N. of Connie Larsson and his book: he did not know anything about him.

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