It was in 1971 that Mr. Mandel of America visited Shri Nathji at his residence at Sarvodya Enclave. He stayed in Shri Nathji’s house for a few days and was very apologetic about what his own country had been doing in the 1971 war with Pakistan.
There was a hilarious moment as Mr. Mandel emerged from his bedroom at Shri Nathji’s Delhi home one morning, dressed in a Japanese Kimono, which left his legs bare from the knees down. Just then Shri Nathji also came out of his bedroom in the house.
“Madame Krull!” Shri Nathji exclaimed with surprise, “when did you come?”
Shri Nathji had mistaken Mandel’s kimono to be a woman’s skirt, and thought he was the elderly Madame Krull of Mussoorie.
Mr. Mandel’s son, David, was working in the USAID department. He came to visit Shri Nathji, bringing his three-year-old child with him. When the child became noisy before Shri Nathji, David lifted him up and placed him outside the gate of Shri Nathji’s house.
Shri Nathji immediately went outside the gate and lovingly brought the child inside again. Shri Nathji would always speak of the wonderful gesture of the American who was perturbed by the child disturbing Shri Nathji while he was speaking to him. Audiences in India generally allowed their children to run riot, unmindful of the disturbance caused to Shri Nathji.
Shri Nathji and Priya Nath visited the Mandels at their home at Hauz Khas for dinner. After the dinner was over, Mr. Mandel came to the gate of their house to see Shri Nathji and Priya Nath off to their waiting car outside. However David did not care to come outside and left his father to observe the courtesies.
Priya Nath was so offended at this unintended discourtesy shown to Shri Nathji by David that he immediately wrote a strong letter to David breaking off their friendship. Mandel came running to Shri Nathji’s house the next day and apologised for his son’s unintended discourtesy and also said: “David was forced upon me by nature as a son, but Priya I chose on my own!”
While leaving India, Mr. Mandel prayed to Shri Nathji to control the weather because stormy winds made him sick on the plane. Later, he wrote to Shri Nathji that wherever he went, the weather was perfect due to Shri Nathji’s blessings.