THE BIRTHDAY OF MY MOTHER AUGUST 15
My Mother, Savitri Devi, was born on the 15t of August 1916. She left the world in 1967. She is known as Mahamateshwari.
She was the youngest daughter of Lala Hagopal Khanna a Senior Lawyer and All India Legal Adviser to the Punjab National Bank. His famous book "Banking and Conveyancing" became legend over the years in the legal fraternity.
He had three daughters and three sons. My mother was the youngest daughter in his family and he doted upon her. In those days he was the only one in the city of Lahore which was then in India, to own a French Citroen Car and would drive his daughter with pride through the streets of Lahore.
He had wished to send her for higher studies to England, after he had completed her Bachelor's Degree in Commerce.
But the fates had willed otherwise. She was very different from all other brothers and sisters and had no attraction towards material things of the world. She could not bear to see people in poverty and in suffering and gave away even her best clothes to these poor. She was spiritually inclined that he often dreamt of herself getting married to a Prince Charming who would be none other than Lord Krishna himself.
When she set eyes upon HH Shri Bhola Nathji, she immediately knew that she had reached her goal. The entire Hargopal family became intensely devoted to HH Shri Nathji and the marriage between Savitri Devi and Bhola Nathji took place on the 7th of May, 1939 in Lahore. The wedding procession was the biggest the city of Lahore had ever seen. It was not so much for its opulence, but for the huge crowd that accompanied the baraat, the groom's wedding procession to the house of the bride. People from all walks of life joined in, the poor from the streets, the holy men smoking their hookahs, shopkeepers who walked out of their shops, and just about anyone who cast eyes on the divinely beautiful being on the wedding horse -- HH Shri Nathji! The Bridegroom.
The bride's father Hargopal had food only for 500 wedding guests and he was at his wits end on seeing the thousands that had turned up, most of them uninvited guests. It was Shri Nathji's father's injunction :"Let not a single man be sent back without being fed!"
Savitri Devi told her father Hargopal that she should place Shri Nathji's Photo in the kitchen. He did so and a miracle occurred. The cooks cooked and cooked and the food multiplied, there appeared to be no end to the delicacies. And all the thousands were fed to their heart's content. Savitri Devi knew it was a miracle of her would-be husband, Shri Nathji who was none other than Lord Krishna himself to her!
All her life she served HH Shri Nathji loyally and lovingly, giving him two sons, Pran Nath and Priya Nath, both of which went into science in later days in accordance with the wishes of their parents.
The younger son, Priya Nath always had a special affinity for his mother, and as a child would follow her around from room to room lest he lose her in the large house in which they lived in Mussoorie. He had this strange feeling that he was going to lose his mother one day. And that was precisely what happened. Many years later he was the first to hear the fateful words from a London Hospital, "Mr. Mehta, your mother just died!" The year was 1967.
My mother would not allow her birthday to be celebrated. She said the entire country was celebrating the 15th of August as Independence Day and there was no need to celebrate her birthday separately. Even today whenever we try to celebrate her birthday rainstorms and thunderstorms inevitably make us minimise or cancel the function. That was precisely what happened on August 15, 2014 today!
I post some photos of her life with my father HH Shri Bhola Nathji and with myself and my brother in various diverse places, as we grew up together as a family.
My Mother, Savitri Devi, was born on the 15t of August 1916. She left the world in 1967. She is known as Mahamateshwari.
She was the youngest daughter of Lala Hagopal Khanna a Senior Lawyer and All India Legal Adviser to the Punjab National Bank. His famous book "Banking and Conveyancing" became legend over the years in the legal fraternity.
He had three daughters and three sons. My mother was the youngest daughter in his family and he doted upon her. In those days he was the only one in the city of Lahore which was then in India, to own a French Citroen Car and would drive his daughter with pride through the streets of Lahore.
He had wished to send her for higher studies to England, after he had completed her Bachelor's Degree in Commerce.
But the fates had willed otherwise. She was very different from all other brothers and sisters and had no attraction towards material things of the world. She could not bear to see people in poverty and in suffering and gave away even her best clothes to these poor. She was spiritually inclined that he often dreamt of herself getting married to a Prince Charming who would be none other than Lord Krishna himself.
When she set eyes upon HH Shri Bhola Nathji, she immediately knew that she had reached her goal. The entire Hargopal family became intensely devoted to HH Shri Nathji and the marriage between Savitri Devi and Bhola Nathji took place on the 7th of May, 1939 in Lahore. The wedding procession was the biggest the city of Lahore had ever seen. It was not so much for its opulence, but for the huge crowd that accompanied the baraat, the groom's wedding procession to the house of the bride. People from all walks of life joined in, the poor from the streets, the holy men smoking their hookahs, shopkeepers who walked out of their shops, and just about anyone who cast eyes on the divinely beautiful being on the wedding horse -- HH Shri Nathji! The Bridegroom.
The bride's father Hargopal had food only for 500 wedding guests and he was at his wits end on seeing the thousands that had turned up, most of them uninvited guests. It was Shri Nathji's father's injunction :"Let not a single man be sent back without being fed!"
Savitri Devi told her father Hargopal that she should place Shri Nathji's Photo in the kitchen. He did so and a miracle occurred. The cooks cooked and cooked and the food multiplied, there appeared to be no end to the delicacies. And all the thousands were fed to their heart's content. Savitri Devi knew it was a miracle of her would-be husband, Shri Nathji who was none other than Lord Krishna himself to her!
All her life she served HH Shri Nathji loyally and lovingly, giving him two sons, Pran Nath and Priya Nath, both of which went into science in later days in accordance with the wishes of their parents.
The younger son, Priya Nath always had a special affinity for his mother, and as a child would follow her around from room to room lest he lose her in the large house in which they lived in Mussoorie. He had this strange feeling that he was going to lose his mother one day. And that was precisely what happened. Many years later he was the first to hear the fateful words from a London Hospital, "Mr. Mehta, your mother just died!" The year was 1967.
My mother would not allow her birthday to be celebrated. She said the entire country was celebrating the 15th of August as Independence Day and there was no need to celebrate her birthday separately. Even today whenever we try to celebrate her birthday rainstorms and thunderstorms inevitably make us minimise or cancel the function. That was precisely what happened on August 15, 2014 today!
I post some photos of her life with my father HH Shri Bhola Nathji and with myself and my brother in various diverse places, as we grew up together as a family.
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