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.

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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.

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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.