While at Naini Tal in June 1972, Shri Nathji stayed at the Hotel Metropole located at the top of a hill overlooking Naini Tal. It was there that he had a sudden attack of herpes zoster, an intensely painful condition, which he divulged only after the attack was over. The doctor who saw Shri Nathji was amazed at the manner in which Shri Nathji had silently borne the pain.
He said that the condition was so painful that patients screamed in agony and slept on cold banana skins.
The hill people called the condition “agni”, meaning fire. However, Shri Nathji had borne it without a compliant and it was only a suspicion on Priya Nath’s part that had made Shri Nathji reveal he had the pain.