Dr Jwala Prasad

Il-health for Shri Nathji was simply a means of blessing the members of the medical profession. Shri Nathji was particularly fond of Dr. Jwala Prasad of Mussoorie who attended to him with great reverence and faith. Shri Nathji would often say to him: "In your hands exist davaa as will as duaa–medicine as well as prayer! When one fails, the other succeeds!"

 Dr. Jwala Prasad had, as a youth, heard Shri Nathji’s sermon in Lucknow. At the time, he was troubled by some problem in life. What Shri Nathji said in his sermon, immediately went to his heart and gave him peace of mind. Dr. Jwala Prasad never forgot the incident. He very frequestly attended Shri NArhji and used to come to visit Savitri Nivas often.

Dr Jwala Prasad, smoked quite heavily, and who owned a car which was rare for people in Mussoorie in those day in 1960’s . He was also the family doctor of writer Ruskin Bond who who would turn up at your house at short notice. Years of experience enabled him to make a quick and usually accurate diagnosis and he’d write out a prescription on the spot. If he thought it was something very serious he’d direct you to the nearest hospital. If he was a good doctor, his very presence would make you feel better. He’d put his stethoscope to your chest, feel your pulse, look at your tongue, prod your tummy, and make you breathe deeply and say ‘Aaah!’ You took his pills religiously, and sooner or later you felt better.  He was famous for his phrase “Nothing to worry about.” No matter how ill you were, in pain or racked with a fever, he’d pat you on the shoulder and say, “Nothing to worry about. You’re going to be fine!”

And it actually helped! Such is the psychology of illness or wellness.

Seth Govind Das

  Seth Govind Das, who was the senior-most Member of Parliament during those days, and who lived in Jabalpur, had lost his son who was very dear to him. He had been in a state of acute depression which nothing in the world could cure.  He met Shri G.P. Bhutt and Gangabai Bhutt who were in Jabalpur, and heard about Shri Nathji from them. They told him that if there was any place in the world where he could get solace it would be from Shri Nathji.

Shri Nathji could restore to the grieving their loved ones in a single glance. Grief would give way to happiness and peace, as Shri Nathji brought their loved ones closer within their hearts and souls, so that they no longer felt the separation. It was a great miracle. No medicine on earth could cure such sorrow.

He came to the residence of Shri Nathji at South Extension Part I in 1968. The moment he sat before Shri Nathji, something happened to him.
 He found an inner peace filling him for the first time in days. Very soon he found the peace change to a feeling of bliss within his heart. The feeling surprised him, because only moments before there was nothing but sadness and depression within him.
 The healing touch of Shri Nathji’s words affected the man’s body and soul. It was not a temporary feeling but rather one which became a permanent state. He remained radiant with happiness on the second day after his visit and in subsequent days to come as well. The feeling had become a permanent one. Thereafter he developed intense faith in Shri Nathji and became a frequent visitor at Shri Nathji's residence at South Extension.

 "To give up all opposition to sorrow is to acquire happiness and to find salvation," Shri Nathji said, "it is easy to be happy when sorrow has been removed. But real happiness lies in being happy in sorrow!"
 Seth Govind Das’ good wishes to Shri Nathji were always expressed in the following words:

 "May you live for a hundred years and more, and may your work go on enlightening mankind!"

 Shri Nathji always quoted these good wishes of the elderly statesman for him. He had often said to people:
 “Come and take my blessings. But leave your good wishes with me so that I can complete the work for which I have come into this world.”
 Once Seth Govind Das brought a friend to Shri Nathji's darbaar and said to the friend. 
 “We are intellectuals; we do not bow readily before anyone. But before Shri Nathji our heads bow all by themselves! Yahaan aakar to sar khaamakhaa jhuktaa hai!”

 "Do you know why people bow before me?” Shri Nathji asked, and then added, "I am so small, that they have to bend down on their knees to catch a glimpse of me!"
 Shri Nathji also said: “I am not that light which rests only upon your heads. I am that light which rests upon your feet as well!”

 Whenever some of his devotees would worry, he would say:
 "Do not let your hearts be shaken by worry. Remember, I am sitting within. And when your hearts shake, I can feel the jerks!"

 Seth Govind Das was not given the same inner sight that was given to Bhutt Sahib by Shri Nathji. Even though Govind Das revered Shri Nathji as the holiest of the holy, it did not strike him that Shri Nathji was God, Himself. Neither did Shri Nathji give this revelation to him.
 One day he came before Shri Nathjji and said to him: “I have one very intense desire left in my mind – that of Prabhu darshan! To get a glimpse of God!”
 Shri Nathji smiled to himself, and blessed him without telling him who he was.

Paas kharro nazaron men na aave
Aiso Nath hamaaro re

Though standing beside us, He may not reveal Himself
Such, indeed, is our Nath

There was the time when Lord Rama had passed in front of his great devotee, Tulsidas, without granting recognition of himself to him. Such was the leela of the Lord that he could hide himself from those closest to him and reveal himself to those far away, in a moment.
Seth Govind Das came to Shri Nathji again after some days, and said that he had gone to a Temple in Brindavan where he had bowed before the idol of Lord Krishna, and suddenly he had heard a sound come from the idol. He could not decipher what the words were, but a thrill had gone through his heart and soul that he had caught a glimpse of God. It was thus that Shri Nathji fulfilled his desire for God. Little did he know that the voice of Shri Nathji which he had been listening to was in fact the voice of God.

In Later days when there was trouble at Mussoorie as the forces of evil there sought to harass Shri Nathji, Seth Govind Das became very concerned and wrote a letter to the Chief Minister of the State urging him to take steps for Shri Nathji's protection.
 "A great Enlightened Soul lives in the hills of Mussoorie," Seth Govind Das wrote to the Chief Minister, "it is our duty to see that his safety is ensured in every way." 

Seth Govind Das (16 October 1896 – 18 June 1974) was an Indian independence activist and parliamentarian. He belonged to the rich merchant family of Raja Gokuldas of Jabalpur. He joined the Non Co-operation Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920 and was jailed five times for a total of eight years. He became a member of the All India Congress Committee since 1920 and served in the Congress Working Committee of the Tripuri Session of the Congress in 1939. He was the President of the Mahakoshal P.C.C. during 1928–1934 and 1946–1957, and the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee in 1957.

 He was also a writer and  wrote more than a hundred plays, a novel "Indu-mati", five travel books, a three volume autobiography, four biographies, mostly in Hindi.

 He represented Jabalpur in the Indian Parliament from the first to the fifth Lok Sabha, continuously, from 1957 to 1974 when he died. He was appointed Speaker protem (prior to the formal election of a speaker) by the President for the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Lok Sabha and administered the oath of the office to all the rest of the Lok Sabha members.

The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan in 1961

 

Death Duty

 

When Shri Nathji arrived in Mussoorie after Mateshwariji left her physical frame in London, he had to handle legal issues. Mateshwari’s property, Savitri Nivas, had to be mutated in the name of Pran Nath and Priya Nath and a death duty had to be paid. It was an oppressive taxation coming at a time when a person was already in grief. In later years this oppressive duty was abolished by the government. However Shri Nathji suffered it to be paid like all the rest of the people in the country even though it took many months of bureaucratic delays before the mutation was made.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In India, the "death duty" was known as Estate Duty, which was a tax levied on the total value of a deceased person's property before it was distributed to the heirs. This tax was in effect from 1953 until it was officially abolished in 1985.

The tax was implemented under the Estate Duty Act, 1953.

It was charged on the principal value of all movable and immovable property (including agricultural land) owned by the deceased, whether situated in India or outside (if the deceased was domiciled in India).

The rates were progressive, starting at 7.5% for properties valued at around Rs. 1 lakh and reaching as high as 85% for estates valued over Rs. 20 lakh..

 The duty was paid by the estate of the deceased before the assets were distributed to the beneficiaries. The Estate Duty was abolished in 1985 by the then Finance Minister V.P. Singh due to several reasons like High Administrative Costs:of assessment and collection was disproportionately high compared to the actual revenue generated. The tax collection was minimal (only about Rs. 20 crore in 1984-85), representing a negligible fraction of the total direct tax revenue. Also the complex valuation rules and administrative procedures led to extensive litigation and harassment of taxpayers. It was often viewed as a form of double taxation, as the assets had already been subject to wealth tax and income tax during the owner's lifetime.

St. Mary’s Hospital Mussoorie

In April of  1954 in Mussoorie,  Mateshwari ji got seriously ill. She suffered a diabetic coma and insulin was injected immediately. It was then that it was discovered that she was highly diabetic . Mateshwari remained ill and mostly in bed for several months after this episode. There came one day when she became so ill that a lady doctor from St. Mary’s Hospital, which was on the mountain above Savitri Nivas, had to be called at night. The doctor advised her admission into the hospital.
But Mateshwari refused. She said that if she had to leave the world she would rather do so at home at the feet of Shri Nathji than in a hospital.
Shri Nathji spoke to her and said:

“Rabb theek karegaa! God will make everything all right!”

She said to him:

“Rabb! Kaun saa Rabb! Main or kissee Rabb ko naheen jaanti! God! Which God! I know of no God other than you!”

She added: “I have just one wish left in life–that if I had lived longer, I could have served you more!”
Shri Nathji had called Mateshwari's brother Sri Krishen Khanna by telegram and he fell at the feet of Shri Nathji and prayed to him to cure Mateshwari.
And a miracle occurred. Mateshwari recovered that night, and lived for many years more to serve Shri Nathji and the children, as she had desired.

In 1915, HBS Dalliwal gifted a triangular piece of land to the then European Cottage Hospital, for the convalescence of the patients. The St. Mary’s Hospital was thus build. After some alterations this correct structure of the hospital was erected in  1931. This hospital in infect directly above Savitri Niwas – The house of Shri Nathji and Mateshwariji.  And  they share a common boundary. In 1954 when Mateshwari had been dangerously ill at Mussoorie and was asked that she be admitted to the hospital. Mateshwari had refused to go. It was an irony of fate, that several years later in 1967, she left her body in  St. Mary’s Hospital in London.

Due to bad management and government apathy the hospital suffered neglect with hardly any facilities  and was finally closed in 2016. The local residents were very upset and asked the government to repair  and restart the hospital. Currently it  is being blatantly misused by the neighbouring resort to park vehicles of its guests. The plight of St Marys  Hospital which once catered to the needs of a large number of people has left residents very upset. As the sub-district hospital of Mussoorie is far away from the town, due to which people face many problems. St Mary’s Hospital was in the middle of the market, which benefited tourists and the local people. So here is a lot of dissatisfaction among the people. They have approached civil authorities and politicians to start the revival of the hospital.

Dr. Bostroff

 

Dr. Bostroff was the last doctor who atttended Mateshwari ji at St. May's Hospital in London. Mateswari ji was very sick in London. On 5th of August 1967 as Mateshwari began to lose physical consciousness, Priya Nath telephoned the emergency medical aid services, who removed Mateshwari to St. Mary’s Hospital in London. A certain Dr. Bostroff attended upon her. Both, Pran Nath and Priya Nath, offered their kidneys for a transplant if it was possible. But the doctor shook his head. It was too late. He said he would try his best, and that the case would take some time. He urged Shri Nathji and Pran Nath to return home and rest for a few hours. But no sooner had Shri Nathji, Pran Nath and Priya Nath returned to their home at 10, Fawley Road, when they were informed over phone that Mateshwaji's has just passed away.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Professor Jonathan Brostoff (1934–2020) was associated with St. Mary's Hospital in London were he undertook his clinical training at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, while attending Wadham College, Oxford University for his medical degree.

Professor Brostoff was a leading international authority in the field of allergy and clinical immunology, known for his pioneering work in food intolerance and immunological research. His career also included positions at other esteemed institutions: 

He was the Foundation Professor of Allergy and Environmental Health and Director of the Centre for Allergy Research at University College London (UCL), where he was also the Physician in charge of the Allergy Clinic at the associated hospital.He later became Professor Emeritus of Allergy and Environmental Health at King's College London.His clinical NHS base was at Guy's & Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.

He was a well-known lecturer and author, co-authoring major reference textbooks such as Food Allergy and Intolerance and Immunology.

Rotary Club in Melrose

Shri Nathji was given a welcome by the Rotary Club in Melrose, a suburb of Boston, where he met a building contractor and an Iranian dentist settled in America. The building Contractor would not leave Shri Nathji that day and took him to his house for lunch.
 While on the way to the man’s house, Shri Nathji recollected having left his sun glasses behind at the Rotary Club. The car was turned around and the sun glasses found outside the club premises on the ground. It was Nature’s method of giving the man a few additional moments to serve God.
 "When you speak of God," he asked with typical American innocence on such matters, "do you mean a spirit?"
 Apparently many Americans still thought that Indians worshipped a plethora of gods and goddesses in idol form as a substitute for God. The very concept of idol worship was difficult for them to understand.

Shri Nathji’s explanations thrilled them. His description of idol-worship was also very convincing, and new:
 "An idol merely serves as a reminder of God, the spirit. It is like having a picture of your friend in the house. Each time you look at the picture, you are reminded of your friend.
 “When you talk through a telephone, it is not the telephone you are talking to, but rather the person on the other end of the line.
 “An idol serves a similar purpose for many. The worship they offer to it is directed towards God. Upon set­ting eyes on the image they are reminded only of God and no one else. To that extent, the image serves a useful purpose.
 “God, who is everywhere, and in everything, even in the small­est of atoms, can also exist within an idol of stone. He understands the intention of man, regardless of his mode of worship.
 “He can give to a worshipper the fruits of his devotion through any medium He chooses–even through the medium of an idol. The one who answers prayers is God alone. The idol serves as a useful medium for concentration.
 “When man has advanced further spiritually, he can visualise God within himself. God shall then speak to him from within!"

At the house of the Iranian dentist, Shri Nathji recited the following Persian verses of the poet, Rumi.

"Bishno az nai choon hikaayat mi kunad
Vaz judaayee haa shikaayat mi kunad

Ask of the flute the meaning of its song
It plays the mournful notes of separation,

Taa maraa az naistaan babureedaa and
Az nafeeram mardozan naaleedaa and

Since the time I have been cut from my bamboo stalk
The sound of my song makes men and women cry."

It was strange that Shri Nathji should have chosen to recite Rumi in the Iranian's house. He could have recited from Hafiz or Omar Khayyam or numerous other Persian Poets. The Iranian was surprised, too.
He told Shri Nathji that Rumi had been his favourite poet, and he showed Shri Nathji a large collection of books he had on Rumi.
When Shri Nathji spoke to him he was to receive yet another surprise. The Iranian's father, who had been a spiritual leader in Iran, used to say the very same things!
All through his association with Shri Nathji during the brief visit, he mistook Shri Nathji for an Indian Maharaja and frequently referred to him as "Your Highness."
The President of the Rotary Club joined them for dinner. After listening to Shri Nathji, he said:
"What you say is exactly in line with our Rotary principles."
This was not the first time a Rotary Club member had extolled Shri Nathji’s teachings. Shri Ranjit Singh of Lucknow, who was the President of the Rotary Club in India, was a great devotee of Shri Nathji as also Chaudhri Hyder Hussein who was its Governor.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. The Melrose Rotary Club is dedicated to public service in Melrose Massachusetts and the surrounding communities. Rotary Club in Melrose was formed in 1921 and was sponsored by the Lynn Club. It was the 1009th club to join what is now a vast international organization.

 

Harvard University commencement ceremony

While in Boston with his son Priya Nath, Shri Nathji attended the Harvard University commencement ceremony in June 1964 took place on June 11th. It was the 313th commencement, an event marked by tradition, academic pageantry, and formal proceedings such as the ringing of the university bell and the sheriff proclaiming the meeting to order. The ceremony was scheduled to confer thousands of graduate degrees and recognize the academic achievements of the graduating class. The event included a wide array of attendees, from undergraduates to graduate students, faculty, university officials, alumni, and local dignitaries. The ceremony occurred amidst a period of social and political unrest, which was acknowledged by the commencement preacher, who offered prayers for the university and other schools facing turmoil. The ceremony occurred amidst a period of social and political unrest, which was acknowledged by the commencement preacher, who offered prayers for the university and other schools facing turmoil. West German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard was among the recipients of an honorary degree.