The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 128
128 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN that there were only three chairs in the aircraft, their commander would take one and two would be left for us, which was very kind of them. The pilots themselves and the baggage would be on the floor. One of us would have to accommodate himself on the floor also. I had in my party one lady, Begum Shah Nawaz, and our secretary Syed Bashir Ahmad. On the principle of women and children first, I allotted the two seats to Begum Shah Nawaz and Syed Bashir Ahmad and decided to lie down on the floor with my overcoat on, thinking that with the help of the cushions, so kindly provided by Lady Burns, I would be reasonably comfortable. But that turned out to be an illusion. I lay down on the steel floor with one cushion under my head, the second under my elbow and the third under my hip, each at a strategic point, but the higher the plane got, the colder the surface of the floor became and the steel seemed to grow much harder. I could not sleep a wink through the whole night. By sunrise the next morning we made Natal in Brazil, across the South Atlantic, where we landed in an American military camp, which was in the course of being set up there. They gave us a luxurious breakfast, and we were transferred to an American military plane, with wide comfortable seats and a kitty full of sandwiches and soft drinks. There was no steward on board, and everyone was free to help himself to whatever he liked. The ferry pilots who had been with us during the night - there were no lights and in the dark we had not been able to see each other - were now seated comfortably in the wide seats and were enjoying themselves. One of them, Murray White, who was next to us, fell into conversation with us, and after 10 or 15 minutes he said in great surprise, "Why, you are like us!" which amused me greatly. I asked him, "Did you imagine that you were locked up in that aircraft last night with three wild beasts from the jungle, and terrified lest the plane should blow up at any time?" It might be of interest to add, by way of parenthesis, that in February last (1962), I was in Denver, Colorado, to carry out one or two speaking engagements in the University there. The very first morning I was rung up by a Colonel White. In the Air Force here, you have the same ranks as in the military; we have different ranks for the Air Force. The girl at the switchboard had said, "Are you prepared to take a call from a Colonel White? He says he knows you. " I said, "I don't know any Colonel White in Denver, but anyway, put him through. " So he was