Mrs. Bhutt had a small room set apart in the house, which contained a large human-sized idol, made of cotton and cloth, with a face made of clay. It was the image of Bhagwati Devi which she worshipped. She would always scare the boys with stories about the idol and say how it would come to life at times and wreak havoc on those who didn’t believe in her–“Chhaati par charrh jaati hain!” she would say. The pup was always wondering into the Devi’s room much to the annoyance of Mrs. Bhutt and the apprehension of the boys.
There was a time when Mrs. Bhutt lost her cat and she searched all over the lawn for it with Priya Nath by her side, torch in hand. She was blaming the dog in the house which she thought may have scared the cat or killed it, even though the dog was much too small for that.
They saw something white in the bushes and Mrs. Bhutt at once said with alarm: “There it is! It is lying dead! Mareen to parreen hai!” As they went closer, they discovered it was a newspaper crumpled into the shape of a ball. The cat was later found inside the house, hale and hearty. Priya Nath would ever tease Mrs. Bhutt about the episode. Both Shri Nathji and Mateshwari laughed heartily when the episode was recounted to them by Priya Nath.
Priya Nath was very playful, and also naughty, during those early days of his youth. He would play pranks upon the devotees when they came for Shri Nathji’s darshan and would even pour cold water into their shoes kept outside. Mateshwari and the devotees would refer to Priya Nath as “Natt-khatt”– meaning playfully naughty.
Mrs. Gangabai Bhutt was always at loggerheads with Priya Nath and would often say: “Priya Nathji will grow up to be like Prem Nath. While Pran Nath will grow up to be like Shri Nathji!”
However, Shri Bhutt was greatly enamoured of Priya Nath. Shri Bhutt would always eat inside the kitchen, and Priya Nath would frequently sit by his side and tell him jokes. Shri Bhutt had a very good sense of humour and remembered the jokes Priya Nath would tell him. He would recall how Priya Nath once said to the driver of their car, as a traffic policemen came up before them: “Dekh! Teraa baap kharraa hai! Look, there stands your father!”
He would also recall how Priya Nath would tell the story of the man on the bicycle who hit an old lady on the road. The man had a long beard. The old lady fumed with rage, cursing the beard of the man and calling it names. The man said ultimately: “O Maayi! Mother! Why are you cursing my beard–could I have applied the brakes with my beard! Kyaa main daarhi se brake lagaa detaa!”
In moments of joviality, Shri Bhutt would narrate Priya Nath’s jokes to Mateshwari and Shri Nathji, and they would all laugh together. Priya Nath would later mimic how Bhutt would narrate a joke and laugh at the same time, his words being interjected by his laughter as: “Prabhuji! Vo-ho-ho-ho-ho! Dah-hah-hah-hah!” And this would make Shri Nathji and Mateshwari laugh even more.
Shri Bhutt had a sense of humour of his own which was reflected in his jokes which he often told Shri Nathji: “ Prabhuji! Vaid Raj ke haath men shafaa naheen hai! Vaid Raj does not have a healing touch in his hand! A friend of mine took medicine for a cold from him, and came down with diarrhoea!” Shri Vaid Raj ji became the butt of Mr. Bhutt’s jokes and Bhutt would burst out laughing even before he had fully pronounced his name: “Vaidya-hah-hah-hah…” much to the delight of the children.
These little episodes revealed, that despite the fact that Shri Nathji’s devotees took him to be God upon earth, he would sit with them ever so freely, laughing and joking with them as if he were their friend. This could at times lead to irreverence, which was the most serious crime in the spiritual realm as Shri Nathji always said. To illustrate this, Shri Nathji would tell the following parable of the king and his minister.