Coral Club in Allahabad

Shri Nathji had been celebrating the birthdays of Shri Babaji Maharaj at Allahabad during the three years of his stay in the city – 1959, 1960 & 1961 when his sons were studying at Allahabad University. One of the first such celebrations had been at the Coral Club in Allahabad. Shri Nathji gave his sermon and blessings to his local devotees at the Club.

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Coral Club in Allahabad was made in 1924 for the recreation of employees of the East Indian Railway. It had a main large hall with a podium. There was also  a park, library and swimming pool at the club. During British times, Housie and card games were held every evening at the club. The bar was always open for members. Sahibs and Memsahibs called in for dinner practically every evening. The band played English music of the 1930s and 1940s in the background. Young Indian waiters in white uniforms and turbans served while the young Anglo-Indians and Europeans displayed their talents singing, playing the piano, or joining in with the band. The waltz, the fox-trot and the tango were the favourite dances. Chandeliers with candles lighted the halls, creating an atmosphere of romance. The railway officers on duty spent their free time at the club while waiting for connecting trains. Families enjoyed watching Charlie Chaplin silent movies displayed on the white walls of the big hall."

But currently it is best known to locals in Allahabad as a marriage venue. Now it is no longer used as a club but rather as a marriage hall which can be booked on rent. The club is not functional.

Railway Coral Club is located at 642, Fifth St, Canton, Civil Lines, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh 211001.

Doon School

 

In 1957 it was decided that Pran Nath would sit for his Higher Senior Cambridge Course, which was conducted from London, as this would facilitate his going abroad for higher studies. The Higher Senior Cambridge examinations were to be held at Doon School in Dehra Dun and it was in that school that Pran Nath had been enrolled, again due to the painstaking efforts of Shri Nathji who had taken his marks sheets there and secured admission for him as a private student.

 The month of November 1957 saw Shri Nathji and Pran Nath at the Doon School Dehra Dun. The headmaster of the school at that time was Shri Vishwa Nath Kapoor, who was a great devotee of Shri Nathji. Shri Nathji and Pran Nath stayed at his home. The Higher Senior Cambridge examination was to be conducted at the Doon School.
 Shri Nathji's divine presence brought great happiness to Shri Vishwanath Kapoor, and he and his wife served Shri Nathji very diligently for the few days that he was there. The coming of Shri Nathji into his life so suddenly was like a lottery. It filled his life with a peace that he had been yearning for. The purpose of Shri Nathji's visit to the Doon School soon became clear. It was to give peace to this noble soul and to shower his blessings upon Doon School, which soon became one of the most famous schools in the country. Shri Nathji would ever afterwards recollect how Shri Vishwa Nath Kapoor would follow him around from room to room in his house, switching off the lights in each room as they left, to save electricity.
 Shri Nathji would urge people in his home to follow Vishwa Nath Kapoor’s example to save on the light bills.

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The Doon School is a selective all-boys private boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, as a school modelled on the British public school while remaining conscious of Indian ambitions and desires. The school's first headmaster was Arthur E. Foot, an English educationalist who had spent nine years as a science master at Eton College, England. Doon remains a boys-only school despite continued pressure from political leaders to become coeducational.  Old boys of the school are known as 'Doscos'. Doon has been consistently ranked as the best all-boys residential school in India

Arya Samaaj Mandir Mussoorie

 This is the photo of Arya Samaj Mandir at Mussoorie. Its address is F34R+FJG, Defence Colony, Rajmandi, Landour, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand 248179. This is famous locally for hosting marriage under the Arya Samaj tradition

While Shri Nathji was in Mussoorie in 1957 he was invited by the Arya Samaaj Mandir at Mussoorie on the 20th of September. It was astonishing that even Arya Samaaji’s invited him to speak to them. This had happened many times in Delhi as well as in Lahore.
 Lala Hargopal Khanna, Mateshwari’s father, had himself been the president of the Arya Samaaj at Lahore.

 The Arya Samaaji’s regarded Shri Nathji as a perfect embodiment of spirituality even though they could not conceive of such a being as the Avatar. It did not matter to Shri Nathji; to each he was his own. Many Arya Samaaj intellectuals used to say to him in Delhi: “Your words pierce the heart. Ours is mere intellectual reasoning. Hamaari to sirf lecture baazi hai!”
 It was thus that members of all faiths accepted Shri Nathji as one of them. Shri Nathji’s ability to speak on all religions with such penetrating power was astonishing. 

 

St. George’s College

 In 1956 Priya Nath was studying at Allen Memorial School in Standard X, which was then known as the Senior Cambridge. Shri Nathji had to find a College for Pran Nath, as he had passed out of the Senior Cambridge from Allen Memorial School. There was only one English medium college in Mussoorie at the time and that was St. George’s College. It was run by an Irish Catholic institution. The principal of the college was Brother Ryan. The distance from Savitri Nivas to St. George’s College was unbelievably long. Shri Nathji could see the College from his home, standing out far away in the valley of Barlowganj.  However, undeterred by the distance, Shri Nathji walked all the way down to the college to speak to the pricipal for Pran Nathji. Shri Nathji met Brother Ryan, the principal of the College, and asked him about the admission of Pran Nath. The man was only too glad to give the admission.  Although he was a stern and formal person, by no means having a good reputation amongst the students as a benign mentor, he was touched to the core by Shri Nathji's personality. He saw in him something that was very holy. Before Shri Nathji left Brother Ryan’s office, the principal said to him:
 “Pray for me!”
 Those who had even an iota of truth in them instantly recognised the truth in Shri Nathji. 

Pran Nath study at the distant St. George’s College, trudging back and forth over the miles and miles of unending hill road. His health continued to deteriorate from the stress of the exertion as well as the studies. There were all kinds of nefarious characters along the route that made life miserable for Pran Nath. His honesty and goodness had become well known and people would exploit him. His friends had frequently borrowed his text books during examination time and not returned them. He frequently gave whatever money was in his pocket to the poor he met along the way, but, instead of being grateful, these poor people had begun to make fun of him and to tease him as he passed their way. Albeit Pran Nath completed his Inter-science studies at St. George’s College despite the adverse circumstances.

 Next year in 1957 Priya Nath ji also got addmitted to this college. Although Priya Nath’s natural bent of mind lay in the Arts, yet he had followed his elder brother into Science unwittingly. He decided to continue with Science and Mathematics and to pursue his Inter-Science in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, the same subjects Pran Nath had studied at St. George’s College.

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St. George's College, Mussoorie, is an all-boys boarding and non-boarding school in Mussoorie, in the state of Uttarakhand, India, affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations board. The school, an all-boys residential and non-residential institution, spreading over 400 acres (1.6 km2) of land, was founded in 1853 by the Capuchin Fathers and entrusted to the Society of the Brothers of St. Patrick (Ireland) in 1893. It was opened in a cottage known as Manor House; the name by which the campus is still known. The students are known as Manorites.

The school is named after Saint George, the patron saint of England and a number of countries and cities around the world. The legend of Saint George slaying the dragon is known throughout the world, and forms the theme of the school's emblem.

A clock tower was erected on the field in 1936, and was the first clock tower in Mussoorie. It was installed by JB Joyce & Company, who imported the clock from England. The chimes, ringing every 15 minutes, would also help keep away the wild animals from the surrounding woods
The school has an alumni network spread across the globe. In 2005, the Indian Air Force gifted the school a trainer jet aircraft, TS-11 Iskra, as a tribute to the distinguished service of the school's alumni in the armed forces.

Munshi Kanhiyalal Alakdhari

 

Shri Nathji used to relate the episode of the two brothers in Punjab whose father had a large amount of wealth. Immediately after the death of the father, the question of dividing the wealth arose. The elder brother began to squabble over details. The younger brother, Munshi Kanhiyalal Alakdhari, who was spiritually inclined, became disgusted with the pettiness of squabbling over material possessions.
He said to his elder brother: "All right–you keep everything! Take my share of the wealth as well! I would rather give it away than quarrel with you over it!"
And saying this, he went away.

The elder brother was stricken by his conscience after a few days, and came to Munshi Kanhiyalal.
"Here, you keep both the shares, mine as well as yours!" he said with an air of generosity. The younger brother refused, and the elder said, "If you won't take mine, at least let me return yours!"

And Shri Munshi Kanhiyalal replied: "No. I cannot take back what I have given away! Only a dog will eat his own vomit!"

Shri Babaji Maharaj and Shri Nathji were fond of reading the articles and books Munshi Kanhiyalal wrote. "He is a righteous man!" Shri Babaji would say of Munshi Kanhiyalal.

Once Shri Munshi Kanhiyalal ran short of oil for his lamp. He had a bottle of perfume with him. He poured it into the lamp, and lit it. The fragrance of the perfume spread everywhere. A neighbour came in and was surprised. "For the cost of that perfume you could have purchased a gallon of oil!" he said.

"True!" said Munshi Kanhiyalal, taking in the exhilarating fragrance, "but what a night!"

As was to be expected, his indifference to material possessions got him into financial difficulties.
"Munshiji," said a friend of his, "what do you do for your next meal? You don't seem to be earning anything!"

And Munshi Kanhiyalal replied: "He, who has given me this mill of thirty two teeth, will surely provide me the grain for grinding!"

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 Munshi Kanhaiyalal Alakhdhari was born in 1809 in Agra to Dharam Das ji. He studied in Calcutta and also resided for some time in Burma but latter retuned to India. His spiritual persuits brought him to Ludhiana in Pujab were he started an spiritual organisation named Niti Prakash in 1873

Around 1867, North Indian religious reformer Kanhaiyalal Alakhdhari who completed a translation into Urdu of fifty-two Upanishads, Bhagwat Gita and Yogavishisth. Also wrote urbu books like Chirag a Hakikat,  Shamma i marifal, etc. He served as a mentor to Pandit Lekh Ram, an important preacher and writer for the Arya Samaj, helping him discover the movement. Alakhdhari's ideas also influenced Pandit Shiv Narayan Agnihotri, the founder of the Dev Samaj. He died in 1873.

 

Dr. Gaya Prasad who treated Mateshwaji in 1956

In 1956, Mateshwariji was very sick in Mussoorie.  Her health continued to decline. This was in part due to the uncontrolled diabetes, for which Mateshwari was not taking the medicines as prescribed, nor indeed, keeping to the strict diet. Indeed, in the plains the dietary indiscretion had only worsened her condition.
 Rajmata Kasmanda in the neighbourhood had become so worried about Mateshwari’s prolonged illness that she had even contacted the St. Mary’s Hospital above the hill to admit Mateshwari in case she chose to be admitted. The German lady doctor had assured her that Mateshwari would be treated with due diligence. However, Mateshwari could never think of leaving Shri Nathji alone for even a single day and did not seek admission to the hospital. Just then, Shri Nathji found a highly qualified doctor in Mussoorie itself. It was as if the entire leela of the illness had been enacted to give the opportunity for divine service to this doctor, to bring a fulfilment to his medical capability.
 It was in similar circumstances in 1947 that Shri Nathji had miraculously found a doctor for Priya Nath when he had been ill with double pneumonia and typhoid.
 The doctor who came to attend on Mateshwari in 1956 was a certain Dr. Gaya Prasad with powerful credentials the likes of which had never been seen at Mussoorie.  It would have been impossible to find such a doctor with such high qualifications even in the city of Delhi. The doctor had acquired a great devotion for Shri Nathji and Mateshwari both, and recognised the important role that Mateshwari was playing in Shri Nathji's life and mission.
 Not only did Dr. Gaya Prasad treat Mateshwari for the time that he was at Mussoorie, but he also kept on giving advice after he had gone back to Patna, which was his home town. In his letter prescribing medicines for Mateshwari Dr. Gaya Prasad wrote to her:
 “Poojniya Mataji,
 I must thank His Holiness for His Spiritual Grace and urge you to get well soon so that you can look after Shri Maharajji.”

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Dr. Gaya Prasad (Born 1903-1968) was one of the best known doctors of modern India and is known as known as the “Father of Modern Pediatrics” in the State of Bihar, India. His academic carrer was as follows –

Matricution Patna University 1922

I.Sc. Patna University 1924

B.Sc. Patna University 1926

M.B.B.S Patna University 1932

M.D. Patna University 1938 in General Medicine and Pathology

M.R.C.P. Edinburgh 1940 in General Medicine

M.R.C.P. London 1940 in General Medicine

D.C.P. London 1941 in Clinical Pathology

D.T.M. Liverpool 1941 in Tropical Medicine

D.C.H. London 1941 in Diploma in Child Health

He had 27 years of teaching experience at Patna medical colleague and hospital were he served 15 years as a Professor;as 5 years as a Principal in the following capacities –

Lecturer in Chemical Pathology 1936 - 1939

Lecturer In Pathology 1942 - 1946

Professor of Pathology 1946 - 1961

Dean of Faculty of Medicine 1955 - 1958

Principal, P.W.P.M.C.H. 1956 - 1961

Medical Officer in-charge of Children's Outpatient Clinic, Medical College Hospital 1942 – 1946. Due to the lack of a Medical Officer qualified in pediatrics, Dr. Gaya Prasad moved the authorities to open a Children's Out-Patient Clinic in the Patna Medical College Hospital. He was appointed the Medical Officer in-charge of the clinic while attracted the attention of the authorities towards building a separate hospital for children.

Ranken and Company

Shri Nathji most often engaged Ranken and Company, the British tailors at Delhi who had made suits and achkans for Shri Nathji and the Parn Nathji and Priya Nathji.

Ranken and Company was a well-known British tailoring establishment in London which opened shops  in colonial India, It was highly regarded for producing fine military uniforms and formal wear. With a history stretching back to 1770, it was a prominent name in British India, They stated their first shop in Kolkotta Calcutta

Ranken & Co. was primarily associated with producing uniforms for the British Army and formal attire for the elite, including British officials and wealthy Indian royalty (maharajas). . It was registered in Kolkata. They latter build branches in other Indian cities like Lahore, Shimla, Rawalpindi, Murree and New Delhi. The company was formally incorporated as "Ranken & CO PVT LTD" in 1947, the same year as India's independence