However, a manager of Wassiamal’s office lived on the same floor, adjacent to Shri Nathji’s flat, and he immediately invited Shri Nathji to have lunch with him. The sheer impact of Shri Nathji’s personality was so great that the man became a devotee at first sight. It was as if he had found real peace for the first time in his life.
The man had recognized God in Shri Nathji and knew this opportunity would never come again He knew of the predicament in Shri Nathji’s flat and prayed to Shri Nathji to eat with him every day or else accept the food he wished to send to Shri Nathji’s flat. And it was thus that Shri Nathji ate the food of this man for two weeks till an improvised kitchen could be made inside Shri Nathji’s flat. Perhaps it was to give salvation to him that Shri Nathji had come to Bombay.
Shri Nathji had always said: “Maine kissee kaa udhaar naheen rakkhaa hai! I never delay paying my debts. If anyone has ever done anything for me, it weighs heavily on my mind until I have repaid him in some form or the other.”
Shri Nathji’s flat consisted of three rooms and an attached bathroom. The main sitting room had a large replica of a Japanese shrine, apparently brought by Wassiamal during his visits abroad. It was apparent the flat had been used for merely entertaining guests and not a place where a family could reside and cook their food. Though Mateshwari tried to make-do with a stove in one of the rooms, it was difficult cooking without any water tap or sink, which were essential for a kitchen.
Shri Nathji and Mateshwari remained mostly in their flat, rarely going out because of the difficult climb on the stairs. However, the children insisted that they go out, and that led Shri Nathji and Mateshwari to make several trips outside the house.
The unique thing about Shri Nathji and his family was that they all went out together, or not at all.
The windows on one side of the flat opened towards a courtyard, on all sides of which there were more flats. Shri Nathji was thus able to see the crowded conditions in which the people of Bombay lived. He blessed them silently from his window, and continued doing so till the end of his stay there.
The devotees from Akola, Shri Sohni and Shri Muley and others came for Shri Nathji’s darshan. The lady, Brij, who had given the kiddie cars to Pran Nath and Priya Nath in 1948, also came for Shri Nathji’s darshan.
More and more people began to visit Shri Nathji and the initial anonymity that he had enjoyed soon disappeared and he was speaking to large groups of people most of the time. No matter where he was, genuine seekers after truth always sought him out.