B.P. Wadia and his brush with Jiddu Krishnamurti

Katinka Hesselink

As can be seen from my chrology, B. P. Wadia was prominent in the Theosophical Society Adyar, and left it, in the same period when Jiddu Krishnamurti was still being groomed as the World Teacher. It turns out, and this isn't very surprising when you think about it, that the two met. My source for this is Krishnamurti, 100 years (1). Baron Phillip van Pallandt reports:

Evelyne Blau: May I ask what year that was?
VP [Baron Phillip van Pallandt]: 1921, Dates I always remember. And Jack Burton said: "You must directly ask Krishnaji to come from Paris because Wadia wants to set up secret centers and that might be dangerous." I said, "Jack, I don't know him. You ask him to come," which he did directly. Well, I think within 24 hours, Krishnaji was at Eerde. And the curious part of this gathering of the Theosophical Society of Wadia, was - Oh yes! I musn't forget to tell you, it was the Secret Doctrine morning, noon and night, now I don't know if you have ever looked into the Secret Doctrine? Well, have you ever understood anything? It is so deep, by Mrs. Blavatsky. Well, it's amusing to look into it because you don't understand a word, really not a word. And then Krishnaji came and what did he do? Well, Wadia had his talks morning, noon and night on the Secret Doctrine, and Krishnaji did nothing, he listened, but in the meantime, he organized sports so as to prevent Wadia from making a secret center here. That was the object. And I'll tell you what kind of sports, it was awfully funny! One of the sports was to stand in the middle of the field with a rope and a stone, at the end of it, and swirl it round and he made all these old ladies jump over while it was swinging round. They had to jump over, all those old ladies of the Theosophical Society, it was very funny! 
...
VP: I'll tell you one really funny thing. When Wadia, who Krishnaji really opposed by organizing the sports, and Wadia must have felt it - when Wadia left in my little car, Krishnaji came along and twenty-seven kilometers from Ommen we had a puncture, a left-right puncture. I had driven cars for my father since 1900, since ten years old, I was far and away the one who had driven longest, but I was frightfully unhandy and Krishaji noticed that in changing the wheel. So within a fraction of a moment, Krishnaji took everything in hand and put on the new wheel with his slender hands, took off the dirty one - they were frightfully dusty roads, thick dust, and with his slender hands, took off the wheel and put the new wheel on and then we drove on. Every time that I pass that spot I have never forgotten the exact spot where we had that puncture. We raced on, although the train had started of course from Zwolle, so we had to drive very fast to catch the train. We arrived in Zwolle at the station. In those times you had to have a special ticket to come on the platform. Krishnaji didn't mind about that ticket, he jumped over all hurdles and arrived on the platform at the very spot, the moment that the train was moving away, with Wadia, without a bag, which he had left at the station. Krishnaji, just after jumping over the hurdles went to the train and at that very spot, that moment, Wadia was looking out of the window, Krishnaji had nothing to do but just hand the bag - one of the most funniest moments I've ever witnessed in my life! And the train went on. 

This is obviously at the time when B.P. Wadia was still active within TS-adyar, already focussed on H.P. Blavatsky and The Secret Doctrine. One wonders how much of this incident led him to leave the TS. Also this could explain the anti-authoritarian attitude of the ULT.

Footnotes

1) Krishnamurti, 100 years, Evelyne Blau, A Joost Elffers Book, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 1995, p. 44-45