These were the days when Shri Nathji had begun to wear his hair unusually long. The hair had flowed out from the back of Shri Nathji’s turban, reaching up to his shoulders. It was the first time in Shri Nathji’s life that he had allowed it to grow so long. This may have been to save Priya Nath the trouble of cutting it.
Shri Nathji delighted in saying:
Bhutt Sahib always used to say: ‘Prabhuji long hair looks good on you!’ Bhutt Sahib kahaa karte thhe, ‘Prabhuji aap par lambe baal achhe lagte hain!”
For years Priya Nath had been cutting Shri Nathji’s hair at home, ever since a barber had accidentally nipped Shri Nathji’s ear while cutting his hair at Delhi in 1970. Priya Nath had there and then made up his mind that he would never expose Shri Nathji’s sacred body to the ministrations of a barber again. He had, dutifully, since 1970, cut Shri Nathji’s hair, storing the cut strands of hair in used tin boxes of the powder foods, Lactogen and Complan.
Priya Nath knew that the time would come when these strands of hair would become treasure relics. Shri Nathji would take childish delight every time he saw the haircut Priya Nath had given him and he would exclaim with childish delight:
Wah, Priyaji, kamaal ke baal kaate hain! Bilkul angrezon jaise lag rahe hain! Wonderful, Priyaji! What a beautiful haircut you have given me! It looks so British!
It was in Shri Nathji’s nature to pour undiluted praise at anything that Priya Nath did, or anything that anyone did for him.
To Priya Nath, Shri Nathji looked very strange in the long hair that flowed up to his shoulders. Priya Nath himself also allowed his hair to grow long to keep pace with Shri Nathji’s hair. However this was only up to the end of January 1979, when both of them decided that long hair did not suit them after all, since it made them look like ascetics, which they definitely were not.
At the asking of Priya Nath, Shri Nathji had allowed his hair to be dyed black during those days, so that he looked like a young man in his 30’s. However he always covered the hair with his turban so that only the hair on the back of his neck was visible.
After a few tries, Shri Nathji gave up the use of the dye, and his hair began turning a miraculous black by itself, as if in answer to Priya Nath’s prayers.