There was the carpenter, Ralla Singh of Mussoorie, who, along with his brother, Thakur Singh, had great faith in Shri Nathji.
Huzoor,” Thakur Singh would say to Shri Nathji, “do not give your blessings to all and sundry. They don’t deserve them. Your blessings are something very precious!”
Ralla Singh would be seen frequently at the Cottage and at St. Andrews, sawing wood, driving nails into worn hinges, hammering the tin roofs for leaks. His work would proceed at a painfully slow speed, as he completed the hourly quota for the day – his dihaari.
I want both the things – spiritual as well as material! he would say to Shri Nathji in Punjabi, “Main te donoyi cheezaan lainiyaan han!” And he would quote the wages for his dihaari.
Shri Nathji’s love for the poor was always overflowing. He would embrace them as often as he could. They need me more, he would say.
He would console them with a beautiful illustration:
Suppose a man has a million rupees. He is rich. But his desires run into ten million. Therefore, he is really poor in a sense. Another man has very little money, but his desires are nil. Therefore, he is rich in the real sense of the word. If God cannot give the poor money, he gives them contentment!
Shri Nathji was very liberal when it came to paying the servants or the labourers. His tip–baksheesh or inaam–would be ever ready for even the slightest chores anyone did for him, and it was frequently as large as the payment itself.