My Mother — Page 116
116 She was deeply moved, supplicated for his forgiveness and asked, ‘When did he die?’ I told her, ‘As I received the telegram yesterday in Delhi, I pre- sume he had died the previous night. ’ ‘Yes. It must have been about 3:00 a. m. I had finished my Tahajjud prayers and as it was not yet time for Fajr, I lay down in my bed and continued my supplications for his recovery. Suddenly I heard: “His current has been cut off. ” I went to your wife’s room and told her that Inamullah had died. ’ When the servant we had sent to Hyderabad returned we learnt from him that Inamullah had died about 3:00 a. m. In 1932, when I had officiated as Member of the Governor- General’s Executive Council during Sir Fazal-i-Husain’s absence on leave, Lord Willingdon was Governor-General. Lady Willingdon had occasion to meet Mother in women’s parties at Viceregal Lodge and had conceived deep affection for her. She always spoke of her simply as Mother. In 1935 their friendship was revived. On one occasion when Lord and Lady Willingdon happened to be at my official residence in Simla, Lady Willingdon intimated to me that the Viceroy wished to pay his respects to Mother— would she agree to meet him? She was seventy-two and was per- mitted some relaxation in respect of the observance of the regula- tions relating to purdah and had, therefore, no objection. After greeting her, the Viceroy asked her which was in her opinion eas- ier, running a household or running an empire? Without the least hesitation she affirmed gently, ‘That which Allah makes easier!’ Sir Herbert Emerson, Governor of the Punjab, was an able administrator, but had for some time been out of sympathy with the Movement. Perceiving this, the Ahrar—an irresponsible