It was the middle of August 1963, and it was time for Priya Nath to go to Harvard. It was a very difficult moment for Priya Nath.
Mateshwari had tears in her eyes when she came to leave Priya Nath at the airport. Mr. Jalie, who was with them at the time along with Pran Nath and Shri Nathji, said:
“Mataji, you should be happy. If my son were going to Harvard I would dance with joy.”
However, for Mateshwari it was a sad moment. She had loved Priya Nath more than anyone else because he had been the youngest in the house. She had affectionately called him “Nanne”, meaning “Small One”.
He had followed her around from room to room in the vastness of Savitri Nivas, he had amused her with his antics and humour, had taken her to the cinema and restaurants in Delhi, and had been very affectionately disposed towards her. He would pinch and pummel her soft arms calling her “Moti Mo” –“Fatty Mummy” playfully. Indeed, neither Shri Nathji nor Pran Nath had shown so much affection towards Mateshwari as had Priya Nath.
There were times when Priya Nath would affectionately bring home a sari for Mateshwari. At such times Mateshwari would say somewhat sadly in Punjabi:
“Priya ainaa naa pyaar kiyaa kar. Jad too chalaa jaayengaa te main roaangi. Priya, do not love me so much. When you are gone I shall cry.”
Now that he was going away, Mateshwari felt a great gap come into her life. Priya Nath did not want to go either, and felt like giving up his admission to Harvard and settling down with Shri Nathji and Mateshwari in London. He wondered why he was going to America at all, leaving behind everything that was precious to him in life. However Mateshwari would not hear of his cancelling his admission to Harvard, and urged him to go.
At London Airport, Priya Nath touched the feet of Shri Nathji and Pran Nath and embraced his beloved “Mo”.
As Priya Nath boarded the bus that was to take him from the airport to the waiting aeroplane, he saw the figures of Shri Nathji, Mateshwari and Pran Nath standing at the airport looking in his direction. It was the last glimpse he was to have of them for a long time. Something suddenly wrenched his heart with agony. A feeling of intense sadness came over him and he cried. It appeared to him that airports and aeroplanes were only symbols of heartbreak and tears.
Very shortly, the plane carrying Priya Nath was high up in the skies, as Priya Nath left his parents and his brother at London to go to Harvard University in America. It was as if Shri Nathji had sent his ambassador ahead of him.