The plane reached Bombay at 4:50 p.m. leading Shri Nathji to commend their punctuality. And moments later they were at Bombay airport in the midst of a large crowd. In contrast to ordinary visiting dignitaries there was no one to receive Shri Nathji at the airport. No one had been informed. Shri Nathji had over the years lost the addresses of all his devotees at Bombay.
No one was even remotely aware that he was there. Such was Shri Nathji’s silent mode of travelling and indeed his silent mode of living that he roamed upon the planet earth in an inconspicuous way. Noticed by all but not recognised.
However, no matter where Shri Nathji went, there was always some solitary soul who spotted him and recognised him. There was a man in the midst of the crowd whose eyes fell upon Shri Nathji. He continued to stare at Shri Nathji with bewilderment and then a spark of recognition lit up in his soul and he came rushing to touch Shri Nathji’s feet.
He said to Shri Nathji: I was a devotee of Shri Babaji Maharaj 50 years ago, and I had seen you by his side as a young man! It is my good fortune that I have had the chance of meeting you today–getting your darshan.
Shri Nathji said with his usual humility and love: “Perhaps it was to grant you darshan that I had to come to Bombay!
All of Shri Nathji’s programmes were at the calling of thirsty souls wherever they were in the world. Even those who could not recognise him received a glimpse of him whenever he went out of the house. The passengers on the aeroplane were fortunate in having God amongst them although they were not aware of Him.
Perhaps Shri Nathji’s presence on that plane had filled their destinies with a new dimension, unknown even to them. It was the firm belief of Mrs. Gangabai Bhutt and many others who accepted Shri Nathji as God that whosoever cast eyes upon Shri Nathji or was close to him at any moment in life attained some degree of salvation.
At the Bombay airport Shri Nathji, Priya Nathji and Sahadeva had tea and sandwiches at a restaurant while they waited for Urhekar to come and take them to his friend’s house. Urhekar turned up after a long time and said with a sad face that his friend had expressed deep regrets that he could not accommodate Shri Nathji in his house because of a sudden influx of his relatives there.
It was a difficult moment of decision for Priya Nath. He discovered that the only hotel available in the vicinity was Centaur Hotel. He called a taxi and took Shri Nathji there. The rates of the hotel were formidable which Shri Nathji and Priya Nath could scarce afford, but they had no other choice. And it was thus that they awaited the arrival of Pran Nath the next day. Perhaps it was to bless the people in the hotel that Shri Nathji had gone there.
The next day the union of Shri Nathji and Pran Nath after ten years was a divine scene in which the invisible gods and goddesses showered their flowers. Shri Pran Nath broke out into tears even as Shri Nathji embraced him and he touched Shri Nathji’s feet. The air was rent with the cries of Shri Pran Nathji Bhagwan ki Jai! from Urhekar, Venu and Sahadeva. Pran Nath and Priya Nath embraced each other and they all went to the Hotel.
Pran Nath’s concern for human dignity and labour was so great that he did not allow any of the devotees to carry his suitcase, nor did he allow any porters to lift it, instead he carried the suitcase himself into the hotel and to the room.
Shri Nathji’s unending divine flow of words continued at the hotel as he said:
There is such a thing as happiness – Anand, and there is such a thing as Parmanand- everlasting happiness, and finally there is such a thing as Mahaan Anand – the greatest bliss experienced. That is the day that has dawned upon the earth today. This happiness that we are experiencing here will spread to the whole world from this hotel room. This hotel is said to be the biggest of its kind in Asia, and we who are speaking to each other are connected with the Greatest Being upon earth.
“Who knows why I had to set foot in Bombay! I, who had never even ventured down the steps of my residence at Nagpur, suddenly found myself in a plane going hundreds of miles away to Bombay. Some thirsty souls were calling me, waiting for a glimpse of me. All of Bombay knows me, but at this time I do not wish to contact anyone. I am sending them all the blessings of my heart from here. All who have a desire for me shall find Divine Grace flowing out towards them spontaneously. As I said to Dr. Zakir Husain the President of India at the time:
‘Harkujaa darde davaa aanjaa ravad
Harkujaa pasteest aab aanjaa ravad
Where there is a pain the medicine must go
And where there is a slope the river must flow’
“If an ocean is pleased, it delivers up pearls; if a tree is pleased, it delivers fruit, and if God is pleased, He showers bliss upon the earth.
“There was a time when I was at Nagpur and people everywhere else were waiting for me. Today I am at Bombay and the people of Nagpur are waiting for me.”
During the brief stay at Bombay, Shri Nathji, Pran Nath and Priya Nath as well as Sahadeva visited many of the places, which Shri Nathji had visited in the past.
The first was 9, Mayfair Building, Churchgate, Marine Drive Bombay. Shri Nathji had stayed there for about three months in 1948 and then again for three months in 1951 at the flat of the Air Force Officer Captain Sukhdev Vats. The place had witnessed many a miracle of Shri Nathji, and large numbers of people of all faiths had come to him there and been inundated by his divine bliss
All the incidents of the past kept coming to the minds of Shri Nathji, Pran Nath and Priya Nath as they took a sight-seeing tour of the city of Bombay in December 1979 and visited the places they had visited before in the years past.
There was Shri Nathji walking on the footpath at Marine Drive again, with crowds being drawn towards him, Shri Nathji eating at Chowpatty, Shri Nathji at the Gateway of India, Shri Nathji at the Taj Hotel near India Gate having tea with Pran Nath and Priya Nath, Shri Nathji at Malabar Hill at the Hanging Gardens, Shri Nathji at the small restaurant located on the top of Malabar Hill, Shri Nathji in a shoe shop purchasing new shoes for Pran Nath.
It was as if a new life had come into the city of Bombay. The earth itself was vibrating with happiness at the sounds of the footsteps of its Creator upon it.
This was to be Shri Nathji’s last visit to the city of Bombay. He had, perhaps, come here to say a farewell.
Sri Krishen Khanna, the uncle of Priya Nath, who was living in Bombay during those days, came over for Shri Nathji’s darshan and was so overwhelmed at the darshan of Shri Nathji that he broke out into tears. Shri Nathji’s divine flow of words went out to him and gave him the greatest bliss of his life.
An appointment was made with the Governor of Bombay for December 31, so that Shri Nathji could leave his blessings behind. However, much before the appointment could be kept, Shri Nathji decided to leave the city.
And it was also a miracle that on that very day an Indian Airlines plane was waiting with just three seats left, as if in readiness for Shri Nathji’s return to Nagpur. Shri Nathji’s plans were mysterious and always made on the spur of the moment, even as divine waves impelled him to move hither and thither.