Indeed, 1954 had been a bad year for Shri Nathji and Mateshwari in terms of health, but they were fairly well before the year was over. Mateshwari’s diabetes was fairly under control and the pain in Shri Nathji’s arm had all but disappeared. By the time it was the winter of 1954, they were already making plans to go to the plains. They had stayed on till December 1954 because the boys’ school had remained open till that time.
Shri Nathji attended to his last duty in the children’s school, and went to attend the Christmas dinner at Vincent Hill School. It was a long walk to the school, but Shri Nathji took the risk, and went all the way there in the biting cold and the darkness of the night with nary a light along Spring Road.
As he sat down at the dinner table, the Principal of the school, Manley, said to him jokingly,
“Swamiji, have you looked at your plate? It contains a chicken!”
Manley was referring to a vegetarian dish dressed up to look like a chicken. Shri Nathji sensed his humour and immediately said:
“Yes, and I am afraid it might fly away!”
There were the prayers from Shakuntala at Delhi earnestly asking Shri Nathji to shift to Delhi permanently and to quit Mussoorie altogether so that Mateshwari could receive proper medical treatment at Delhi. At the same time there were the pressing invitations from the Chopras at Allahabad for Shri Nathji to come to their home.
The prime consideration before Shri Nathji was the health of Mateshwari during those days. This had always suffered deterioration whenever Shri Nathji was surrounded by crowds as in Delhi and Allahabad.
Shri Nathji had observed, while he was in Bombay in 1951, that Mateshwari’s health had shown a marked improvement there. This was due to the sea climate there with the near absence of cold weather. The boys wished to go to Bombay, too, more than to any other place, having already been to Delhi for two years in succession.
Shri Nathji believed that he could find an independent place to stay in Bombay where he would not be overwhelmed by the multitudes, and where Mateshwari could concentrate on improving her health, and eating a regulated diet, free from the sugary sweets, which the devotees forced upon her, and which had now become poison for her system.
Shri Nathji wrote to Wassiamull Assomull at Bombay asking them to arrange for some independent accommodation, even on rent. He received a reply after some days that a flat was available in Bombay, which they could offer to Shri Nathji for the winter, free of rent.