Raja Mahindra Pratap

Raja Mahindra Pratap had experienced the Divine Love of Shri Nathji to a very great extent. He used to attend His lectures in Mussoorie. After many years in 1974 he again met Shri Nathji in Delhi. At that time, when Shri Nathji embraced the aging freedom fighter, he said:
 "Swamiji! This is the way you used to embrace me whenever and wherever we met in the years gone by, on the Mall in Mussoorie!"
 He would refer to Shri Nathji as a “veteran spiritual leader” and would sometimes suggest that Shri Nathji call together all the religious leaders in India and organise a religious fraternity.
 Shri Nathji, however, was above organisations. He was spirituality personified. When he told Raja Mahindra Pratap Singh that he was not interested in politics, the Raja was a trifle taken aback and suggested that holy men participate in the affairs of the State.
 Shri Nathji was, however, running the affairs of the states of the whole world. He was not doing it visibly though, so as to appear impartial.
 Whenever Shri Nathji sent prasaad to Raja Mahindra Pratap in Mussoorie, the latter distributed it to members of his group. On Shri Nathji’s birthday, he wrote: "The desire seized me to come flying to you across the mountains and felicitate you on your birthday!”
 Shri Nathji delivered a beautiful sermon on Divine Love to members of Raja Mahindra Pratap’s group in Delhi. His words made many a person weep on the occasion.
 He had said: “People tell me that I have become weak. And I am happy to hear that. A candle, that must die out, is fortunate if even the last rays of its light can show the way to others. A pencil, that has worn itself out, writing the prose it was meant to write, has truly completed its work in life.”

Raja Mahendra Pratap (1 December 1886 – 29 April 1979), a freedom fighter, journalist, and social reformer was born into the royal family of the Mursan estate in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. He studied at Aligarh Muslim University and was influenced by nationalist and secular ideas. He renounced his privileges to join the independence movement.and dedicated his life to India's independence. His most notable actions include establishing the Provisional Government of India in exile in Kabul with himself as President. This was a bold attempt to gain international support for India's freedom.,

He promoted technical education by founding the Prem Mahavidyalaya in Vrindavan in 1909, and being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1932. After returning from exile, he served as a Member of Parliament, elected to the Lok Sabha from Mathura from 1957 to 1962. He continued to work on social reforms, including promoting the idea of Panchayati Raj, until his death in 1979.

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

Dr. Kapoor Singh took Shri Nathji's book: "The First Rays of Dawn," which contained 365 thoughts for peace of mind, a thought for each day of the year, to Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the President of India and said to him: "This book has been written by a Great Spiritual Soul!"

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (13 May 1905 – 11 February 1977) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the President of India from 1974 to 1977.

Born in Delhi, Ahmed studied in Delhi and Cambridge and was called to the bar from the Inner Temple, London in 1928. Returning to India, he practiced law in Lahore and then in Guwahati. Beginning a long association with the Indian National Congress in the 1930s, Ahmed was finance minister of Assam in the Gopinath Bordoloi ministry in 1939. He became the Advocate General of Assam in 1946, and was finance minister again from 1957 to 1966 under Bimala Prasad Chaliha. He was made a national Cabinet Minister by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1966 and was in charge of various central ministries including Power, Irrigation, Industries and Agriculture. He was elected President of India in 1974, securing a greater confidence than his contestant Tridib Chaudhuri.

As President, Ahmed imposed The Emergency in August 1975 and gave his assent to numerous ordinances and constitutional amendments drafted by Indira Gandhi to rule by decree. Lampooned in an iconic cartoon by Abu Abraham, Ahmed's reputation was tarnished by his support for the Emergency. His Presidency had been described as a rubber stamp.

Ahmed died in February 1977 of a heart attack. He was accorded a state funeral and is buried in a mosque near Parliament House in New Delhi. Ahmed, who was the second Muslim to become the president of India, was also the second president to die in office. Ahmed was succeeded by B. D. Jatti as acting president and by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy as the sixth president of India in 1977.

 

Dr. Saroj Aggarwal

In 1973, Shri Nathji cataract developed rapidly in His eyes and the vision in his right eye almost gone. It was common knowledge that one eye of Dr. Radhakrishnan, the President of India, had been operated upon in India, at the AIIMS, and had been spoiled. Priya Nath could not afford to take such a risk with Shri Nathji. The right eye of Shri Nathji posed a problem for the surgeons because of the orange sign in it. They would either have to remove it during the operation or else have to cut around it. None of the eye surgeons appeared to have performed such an operation before.  Priya Nath then contacted Dr. Saroj Aggarwal to take her opinion. She was in America and was passing through New Delhi. Her words sounded cryptic to Priya Nath: “There are no guarantees in surgery.”

Dr. Aggarwal graduated from Nagpur University / Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in 1958.  She then migrated to USA. She practiced as an ophthalmologist in Cleveland, OH. Her office is located at office located at 12000 McCracken Rd Ste 215, Cleveland, OH 44125.

Dr. Hruby of Vienna

In 1973, Shri Nathji cataract developed rapidly in His eyes and the vision in his right eye almost gone. Then Pran Nath in London contacted a certain Dr. Hruby in Vienna who said he would be willing to operate on Shri Nathji at Vienna. Though Shri NAthji never went to Austria for the surgery.

The Austrian ophthalmologist Dr. Karl B. Hruby is known for his invention of the Hruby lens and for being a pioneer in the use of microsurgical techniques and scleral buckling for retinal detachments. His work significantly advanced the field of vitreous and fundus examination. He had a challenging period during World War II, where he served as both a prisoner and a physician. Athe war, he had a distinguished career as an outstanding clinician and teacher, eventually becoming a university professor in Vienna.

Trevillion & Clark

 Shri Nathji would always be seen wearing a new achkan, which had been especially tailored for the occasion. Mateshwari, despite the financial constraints, would ensure that all of Shri Nathji’s clothes were made by the best of tailors. Trevillion and Clark of Mussooriee was on of the favorites along with British firm of Ranken and Company and  Lilaram of Lahore.

Trevillion and Clark was founded in 1881 by a British couple, Mr. and Mrs. Clark, in Mussoorie. (The old  photo on the right is the original shop in Mussoorie.) The business was celebrated for its high standards, which included using fine fabrics, imported threads, and fashionable buttons, and for its meticulous attention to detail in the latest cuts. Latter the company was acquired by Lala Mohanlal ji. of Puranchand Agarwal family, originally based in Meerut, This acquisition allowed the family to leverage the established branding and loyal customer base of the existing entity.  Mohanlal Sons still maintains the Trevillion and Clark brand. The business is currently managed by the Agarwal family, with Mayank Mohan serving as a Partner and CEO. The brand has a physical presence in several Indian cities, including New Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Chandigarh, and Jammu. It has successfully blended its age-old heritage and craftsmanship with contemporary fashion needs, emphasizing quality and personalized service.

Lilaram Tailors of Lahore

 

Shri Nathji would always be seen wearing a new achkan, which had been especially tailored for the occasion. Mateshwari, despite the financial constraints, would ensure that all of Shri Nathji’s clothes were made by the best of tailors. Lilaram of Lahore was on of the favorites along with British firm of Ranken and Company and Trevillion and Clark of Mussoorie besides others. 

  Lilaram tailors were cloth merchant with a tailoring department. There company was called B Lilaram & sons and was located in Lahore which was their head office and they also had a branch  in Delhi, Lucknow, Mussorie and Nainital.B ellow I am posting the photo of the shop of B Lilaram & sons which I was able to source from the old Hindi movie namedLahore staring Starring Karan Dewan and Nargis. Though the movie was released in 1949 but its shooting was done some time before. 

 

Dr. Kelkar

Dr. Kelkar had acquired great faith in Shri Nathji after he had read his book Atma Vijay part II, and then come into contact with Shri Nathji. In 1972 when Shri Nathji got engrossed in publishing of His books, He listened to rate quotations of printing and binding charges, taking acute interest in the minutes of details of the trade, examining the stitching and sewing of books, and the face of various kinds of type, driving out to crowded areas like Chawri Bazaar in Delhi to purchase paper and, indeed, doing everything else a man of the world would be called upon to do. Few could understand him then.
 "Leave him alone in his godliness," said Dr. Kelkar, a member of the Sahitya Akademi at Delhi, to Priya Nath,  "why must he be dragged down to the haggling level of worldly men!"
 Little did he know that it was to come down to the "haggling level!" with men that Shri Nathji had taken an avatar upon the earth.
 Dr. Kelkar would always advise Priya Nath to not to get entangled with the hardened world of business in the printing industry. At the same time he would add: “You are a Harvard scholar. Why should you allow anyone to cheat you?”
 

Oncewhen  Dr.Kelkar was travell­ing in a train in the middle of June, he had a heatstroke and collapsed. He was taken to a hospital and medical tests performed on him. His blood urea had shot up to an abnormal level of 300.
 When he was being carried on the hospital stretcher, his daughter was by his side and was asking him: “Will Shri Nathji come to visit you here? Everyone else has.”
 "Beti!" said the man, "can’t you see him? He is walking here by my side!" The man had a vision. Shri Nathji appeared before him, bare-footed, and the man held on to his feet and wept for a long time. Shri Nathji gave him a tablet to eat. Just then the vision was over. And he found himself in the hospital, his crisis over.

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Dr. R.S. Kelkar was the Secretary of the Sahitya Akademi, - an autonomous organization established by the Government of India to promote Indian literature. at Delhi from September 1975 to February 1984. He was the third person to hold this position. From 1 to 14 March 1980,  

In this administrative role as overseer of India's National Academy of Letters, he oversaw the publication and printing of the journal (specifically volumes around the late 1970s and early 1980s) through Bharti Printers, located at K-16 Naveen Shahdara, Delhi-32. .  Bharti Printers is now permanently closed.

Also Dr. R.S. Kelkar addressed the parliamentary committee in his capacity as secretary of Sahitya Akademi,  along with President and Vice President  Suniti Kumar Chatterjee an Srinivasa Iyengar

Dr. R.S. Kelkar had the legal/administrative responsibilities for the content and production of the publication at that specific time. Dr. Kelkar is also the author of other books, such as Bharatiya Kahaniyan, which is available on Amazon.in

Dr. R. S. Kelkar, then Secretary of the Sahitya Akademi, undertook a tour sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations The purpose of this visit was to visit universities and cultural organizations, and establish contacts with Ramayana scholars in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. The tour was in furtherance of a project by the Union Académique International and the Sahitya Akademi to compile a critical inventory of Ramayana studies worldwide. He visited Hindu and Buddhist temples and museums in cities like Bangkok, Jakarta, Bali, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur. During his trip, Dr. Kelkar engaged in various activities.  He held discussions with local Ramayana scholars and gathered information for the regional inventories of Ramayana material. He witnessed performances with a mythological slant and studied local history, as well as the interaction of Indian with Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian cultures.  This tour also served as preparation for the Second International Ramayana Seminar, which was held in New Delhi in January 1981.