As Shri Nathji climbed the slope of the mountain to Savitri Nivas, his residence in Mussoorie, he met Maharaja Sarila.
Swamiji! said Maharaja Sarila, you are back! And where is Mataji?
Shri Nathji had no reply.
Maharaja Sarila understood. He embraced Shri Nathji and said in a voice choked with emotion:
Mateshwari is gone! Ab kyaa karen! What can we do now!
Shri Nathji never forgot these words, nor indeed, the love of the Maharaja, who had been his neighbour for over thirty years in Mussoorie. Time and again Shri Nathji would narrate the helplessness of man in the face of the inevitable:
Ab kyaa karen?
The halls of Savitri Nivas stood silent as Shri Nathji came to the gate of the house. Paint had peeled off from the windows and doors, and the plaster on the walls had begun to crack. The house that had been without a Soul for four years, appeared to come to life again. The door of the verandah was opened, and Shri Nathji walked in.
A silent, sorrowful air filled the house. No more would it echo with the laughter of Mateshwari.
Shri Nathji closed his eyes and raised his hands in the air, and stood silently for a few seconds.
Khandar bataa rahe hain ki imaarat azeem thhi
The ruins do speak of the magnificence that was.
Here, in this verandah, Mateshwari and Shri Nathji had passed many years together. The windows would open, and Mateshwari would stand and gaze at the Doon Valley below. Here, she would be seen performing the Arti on Shri Nathji’s birthday. Mateshwari was the living spirit of Savitri Nivas–the abode of Savitri.