Shri Nathji would often take a long walk around camel’s back road to keep his digestive system in order. These long and brisk walks were doing him infinite good. It was only in later years that medical science discovered that brisk walks were very good for the heart. The excellent health of Shri Nathji at the age of 53 in l955 could be attributed to his walking as well as the little food that he ate.
Shri Nathji had often said humorously:
“People speak of starvation deaths. But in my opinion most people who die, do so only after eating!
“Zyaadaa log to khaakar hee marte hain!”
Shri Nathji also used to say:
“Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that cometh out of the mouth of God!”
Shri Nathji would often explain the Christian prayer that said:
“O Lord give me my daily bread!”
Shri Nathji would say: “This prayer is recited daily even by kings and emperors. What do they mean when they ask God for their daily bread? They already have treasuries full of wealth. The meaning is this:
‘O Lord, you have given me so much wealth. Let me use it as thy gift. Let me partake of my daily bread from the vast harvest of food, which thou hast given me.’
“Man must think of all his worldly possessions as being given by God and use them as if he were using the gifts given by Him. He must not assert his own rights over them.”
Whenever Shri Nathji would walk on Camel’s Back Road he would pass by a large estate below the road which belonged to a millionaire seth of Bombay, a certain Shri B.D. Meattle.
The man was so rich that he had called an architect from Italy to design and decorate his large estate. The huge bungalow on the lawn was reputed to have a cinema theatre inside for the entertainment of guests. He had used expensive Aluminium sheets for the roof of his house instead of the usual tin sheets used by the people of Mussoorie.
Maharaja Sarila had been so overawed by the man’s wealth and opulent style of living that he would say to Meattle:
“Sethji, you made a mistake in using Aluminium sheets for your roof. You should have used sheets made of gold!
Sethji, aapko to sone kee chhatten banaani chaahiyen thheen!”
It was another matter that when the rains came, the hailstones made holes in the Aluminium sheets! The tin sheets of the homes in Mussoorie had withstood the rain, hail and snow, better. Shri Nathji’s house, Savitri Nivas had such solid tin roofs that not even the worst hailstorms could put a dent in them nor the worst thunderstorms blow them away.
Shri Meattle was so rich that he could afford to keep a German Homeopathic doctor with him all the time. The two of them would be seen walking together on the Mall Road many a time. The seth in his bush-shirt and glasses, and the German, as bald as an eagle, walking alongside him, like his shadow.
Two huge Alsatian dogs accompanied the Seth when he walked. These were kept in leash by his servants, and could be very vicious if anyone came close to them.
The wealth of the man was such as to fill all the citizens of Mussoorie with awe.