There was Vallabhbhai Manik of Chandrapur who came to Lahore with his mother to secure the darshan of Shri Nathji, in December 1944. Shri Bhutt was with him at the time.
Shri Nathji had been seen going out of his house at Anarkali in a tonga, by several devotees, including Vallabhbai Manik. But a strange thing happened. As Vallabhbai sat back in the house awaiting Shri Nathji’s return, the door of Shri Nathji’s house opened.
He came out and blessed Vallabhbai Manik, who prostrated before him. A few minutes later, Shri Nathji passed by Vallabhbhai a second time and blessed him again. Vallabhbhai bowed and Shri Nathji touched him on his back.
Mrs. Bhutt arrived at the house and asked Vallabhabhai where Shri Nathji had gone.
He is inside the house, said Vallabhbhai. Mrs. Bhutt appeared surprised because she had just seen him in the street in a Tonga!
Impossible! she said, he is still out! I just met him going in the other direction.
Go in and see for yourself! said Vallabh Bhai Manik.
There was no one inside the house.
The two waited until Shri Nathji returned in the tonga. Upon meeting Vallabhbhai Manik, Shri Nathji said: Vallabhabhai, I was with you here all this time, in the house!
About 35 years later, when Vallabhabhai Manik met Shri Nathji in Nagpur, in 1978, he had this to say to him: I ask of you only one thing–give me sorrow, so that I may pray to you more often! It is only in sorrow that man thinks of God!
Vallabhbhai Manik described a vivid vision he had of Mateshwari in all the glory of her divine form–a sight that was impossible to bear by mortal eyes. She appeared before him in human form, in a plain white sari. And he became like a child before her and was raised from the ground by her hands. The Divine Mother had taken him under her protection and care.
Another thing I wish to ask of you, said Vallabhabhai Manik to Shri Nathji, is that you take care of yourself! Your welfare is the prime desire of my life. I want nothing else. Pray grant me the strength to serve you!
His son, Ashok Manik, who was following in his father’s footsteps with even greater devotion, was a poor clerk in Chandrapur. His salary was four hundred and fifty rupees a month. In July 1978, the fervour of his devotion reached a peak. Spending a full month’s salary, he purchased an electric table fan–and used it to provide cool air to portraits of Shri Nathji in the house! He would leave the fan turned on, facing the photographs for long periods of time. This was his service to God.
It was reminiscent of the time Chasme Vaali Mata fanned the portrait of Shri Nathji in her home in 1940.