A skating rink had mushroomed on the Mall Road just below the hill on which Savitri Nivas was situated. It was in the building of the earlier Standard restaurant. Gramophone records were played in the skating rink at full pitch from eight in the morning till ten in the night. The noise of the music was enough to create a disturbance over the entire hill. The most affected was Shri Nathji’s home as it was on the hill directly above the Standard Skating Rink. The boys could not study for their examinations because of the incessant volume of the sound from morning till night. The records were film songs generally full of melancholy, which created great depression in the minds of the boys. It was an evil they had to live with.
Another person in Shri Nathji’s place would have complained to the authorities and had the noise stopped under law. But Shri Nathji was not perturbed by the noise because the sounds of the world simply did not exist for him. However, the boys, Pran Nath in particular, remained very upset over this intrusion of unwanted noise into their lives, which was taking a toll of their studies.
There was one occasion when Pran Nath went down to the Standard Skating Rink and in a fit of rage threw out the pair of skates rented to him.
This led to a great commotion and Shri Nathji had to go down to the Standard Skating Rink to pacify the staff of the rink as also to chide them.
The moment Shri Nathji had appeared on the scene the commotion had subsided. Indeed the impact of Shri Nathji’s personality was such as to over-awe even the most violent of men and to pacify them into silence.
On occasion when Priya Nath had been confronted with belligerent persons, he had warned the offenders that he would call Shri Nathji who was known to thousands of people all over the country, and that had served to pacify them. After all it was not everyone in the world who could boast of having such a powerful father.
Shri Nathji would again and again recall the words of his neighbour and well-wisher Maharaja Sarila, who had warned Shri Nathji against sending the boys out to such distant schools, saying it would adversely affect their health and well-being.
This was evident from the fact that Pran Nath as well as Priya Nath bore a weak and emaciated look, leading many to think they were ill all the time. Albeit Pran Nath completed his Inter-science studies at St. George’s College despite the adverse circumstances.
Most of the friends of Pran Nath and Priya Nath proved themselves to be fair-weather friends. They would rush to the house when Mateshwari was well and entertained them with all kinds of delicacies, but they would disappear, the moment she was ill.
However, not all friends were like that. There were some amongst them who remained loyal to the boys through thick and thin. Shri Nathji would always quote the well-known adage to them:
“A friend in need is a friend indeed!”