I loaded up into a van with Gyana and her dad, Deva. We drove for a couple days through the California desert and along long dark highways. I asked Deva what those bumps were in the middle of the highway and he told me they were to wake up drivers who fell asleep at the wheel. At that, I was totally terrified that you could actually do that and I kept my eyes constantly on him to make sure that didn't happen.

After 2 or 3 days of nonstop driving, we began to wind our way through miles of mucky, sloppy, middle-of-nowhere, freezing cold, dirt-roaded land. This was it. This was the oasis everyone was trying to get to. It was 64,000 acres of overgrazed sheep-farming land sold to sannyasins at a very reasonable price. After what seemed like a horrifying eternity of driving along icy mountainside cliff paths beneath looming teetering rock formations, we finally ended up in the center of what was heretofore known as "The Ranch". The property had previously been known as the Big Muddy, which was certainly a well-deserved moniker.

My dad met me when I arrived, we were so thrilled to see each other. I was then immediately installed in Howdy Doody, the kids' house. (All buildings, work departments, cafeterias, etc. were given names. Usually the names belonged to well-respected philosophers, authors, etc, but the kids house was an exception to that, I suppose.) There were 13 kids in the kids house, including me. We were mostly kids who had been in Poona, several of whom I knew there, but there were some new ones, as well. Also, there were two non-sannyasin, blue-jeans wearing teenagers there. They were the daughters of the previous caretakers of the property and they remained behind to help out - Becky and Kim.

The kids' house was a big farmhouse in the center of the "town". We were set up in makeshift bunkbeds - there were beds on stilts that lined the walls, like one big long bed , and then the bottom bunks were mattresses on the floor that lay perpendicular to the top bunks, parallel to each other. My dad was a teacher at the Ranch and was in charge of putting us to bed and waking us up each morning, which he chose to do with an annoying loud wail of reveille. Sagar, a British boy a year or two younger than me was the soundest sleeper and the loudest complainer about it.

I arrived in the beginning of December, it was freezing cold and the Ranch wasn't exactly equipped to handle so many people in terms of housing, heating, etc. Howdy Doody had two tiny floor vents that released miniscule portions of heat. We would all remove our soggy moonboots and cram together around the vents and try to thaw our toes, fighting and pushing constantly.

The showers were in a separate building and we had to go out into the freezing cold to an outhouse to go to the toilet. One night, I had to pee so badly and I really really didn't want to go to that disgusting outhouse in the dark. So, after what seemed like hours of deliberation, I finally snuck out and into the the showers, pulled down my pajama bottoms and squatted over a shower drain. Thankfully, none of the other kids noticed, I would never have heard the end of it.

The thing to do those days to show your daring and ingenuity was to jump off the top bunk and land on the floor mattresses in exciting and creative ways. One evening, after my dad had put us to bed and there were no adults around, I was folding my clothes and putting them into the cubby next to my bottom bunk mattress. Madhu, a tiny-for-her-age and even younger than me girl, was showing off for her mentor, Deepa. All I heard was, "look Deepa!" and the next thing I knew, I was writhing on the floor in agony, screaming my head off.

"IT'S BROKEN! MY LEG! IT'S BROKEN!!!"

Nobody believed me. I cried louder.

"OH MY GOD. IT'S REALLY BROKEN!!!!"

Finally, Vishranta got the kids away from me, I guess he believed me, and he sent Nicky out to get somebody. Thankfully, my dad hadn't gotten into the car yet and came back to fetch me. After a harrowing drive on dark dirt roads, we got to the doctor. He pushed on my leg.

"Does this hurt?"
"AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!"
He pushed again in a different spot.
"Does this hurt?"
"OH MY GOD AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Again....
Finally, he decided there might be something wrong with my leg, so they loaded me up into 4 X 4 and drove me to Madras, the nearest town with X-ray facilities, and we drove 45 minutes in the middle of the night along the country bumpy roads.

When we got to the hospital, they X-rayed my leg and my femur was completely broken through and compressed. I was told I had to stay in traction and there I stayed for a month.