A glimpse into the Life of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III — Page 17
times, such official engagements last from early morn in g to three or four in the afternoon. From the household pour constant reminders that food is being served but he ignores such calls till he has met everyone. When private audience is granted to individuals, Huzur is the last one to bid farewell and vain lies the hope of the poor chaps on duty who try to rush through meetings by knocking on the door to indicate that the next one should now be due. Even when it comes to a mere hand-shake, Huzur has kind words to say to everyone. One quick glance rekindles his memory and he will not only recall the name of every single individual in the family but even state his or her present occu- pation. This walking encyclopredia could easily defeat the most sophisticated memory unit o. f any computer. The very young members of the community will always remember meeting Huzur because for them he has a fatherly love and whether it be a cuddle or an affectionate kiss, the young become attracted to his cheerful personality. He is often heard to remark that he loves meeting the very young members because they are the architects of our future hopes. I once overheard it being said by certain members of the community that the community should be grateful to God Almighty that they have a leader who freely grants audience. They remarked that the Pope only stands by his window and showers his blessings from there to the people gathered below but that they were truly lucky to belong to a community whose size at the moment is such that the Khalifa meets them personally. Senior executives will at the most keep one or two meet- ings for the day. At the most they may meet up to fifty on any one date and will meet a maximum of a hundred in any week. With Huzur that is the daily average and around the Annual Gathering he meets more than a hundred thousand Ahmadis quite a number of whom end up with merely a handshake. In that week, he meets officials and volunteers 17