Those were the days when the sounds of music could be heard everywhere in Naini Tal as the loudspeakers blared out the theme song from the Hindi film, “Pakeeza”, which had become popular all over India.
Shri Nathji always said that the glory of God pervaded every piece of art and music in the world and that man could take lesson even from the words of a child. The very fact that a particular song or a tune could affect the hearts of millions of people showed that it had the element of the divine in it.
As the notes of the film song pervaded the atmosphere, the lyrics of the song came across to Shri Nathji through the loudspeakers on the Mall:
“Mujhe koyi mil gayaa thhaa sare raah chalte chalte
I met someone, strolling along the way”
Shri Nathji turned to Sahadeva, who was walking by his side on the Mall, and said to him:
“Sahadevaji! Did you hear the words of the song! That is how God met you! Just strolling along the way! He did not ask you for any penances or austerities, tapasyaa, or for worship, pooja or paath. He met you of His own accord in the journey of life as you were proceeding along your way, without asking for anything in return!”
Shri Nathji had once said to Sahadeva Tayal during the earlier years, snapping his fingers:
“Sahadevaji! Raihmat iss tarah hoti hai! God’s Grace can come just like this – in a flash!”
Shri Nathji had also said to Sahadeva Tayal:
“Sahadevaji, aap daurr rahe thhe. Main ne peechhe se aavaaz dee: ‘Sahadevji! ruk jaao!’ Aap ruke to sahi, magar rukte rukte bhee laakhon janam guzar gaye!
“Sahadevji you were running. I called out from behind: ‘Sahadevaji, Stop!’ You stopped running, but it took you thousands of births before you came to a halt! And when you stopped, you found me before you!”
“The Voice of God has been calling out since eternity to the soul of man to stop, but the lure of the material world was so powerful that it took man ages to come to a halt!”
Shri Nathji used to say:
“When God saw that ages had passed and no one had come to Him, He decided to come down to them!”
Shri Nathji would also say:
“Tum hamaare ho naa ho, ham tumhaare ho chuke! You may or may not become mine, but I have become yours!”
There were also the touching scenes when Shri Nathji and Priya Nath would stand in the balcony of the Hotel and listen to a street singer with a harmonium strapped around his shoulders who sang especially for them:
“Mausam hai aashikaanaa”–
“The air is filled with Love”,
which was another song from the film Pakeeza, and which Shri Nathji and Priya Nath immensely enjoyed. It was as if the air, the “mausam”, was filled with Love with the coming of Shri Nathji to Naini Tal.
As a measure of Shri Nathji’s divine benedictions and his appreciation, the songs of the film “Pakeeza” became one of the best known in the country, and the film itself a tremendous success.
In the Metropole Hotel at Naini Tal there were business magnates, owners of various industries in the country. Their pompous and reckless style of living was in sharp contrast to Shri Nathji’s reserved, cultured mode of living at the hotel. Almost everyone there mistook Shri Nathji for a Maharaja and cast a respectful glance at him.