The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 238
222 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN again after the meeting in the evening. " I said, "No, I will not do that. There is a small room behind the podium on the same level as the Assembly floor which the President normally uses, and I shall always use that room. Any of my colleagues, who want to see me at anytime, can just get up from their seats and come around to that room. " I adopted a regular routine: in the middle of each sitting when the business was running smoothly, I would hand over the Presidency to one of the vice presidents and I would withdraw to this room, and that was the signal to any of my colleagues who wanted to come around to discuss anything that they were free to do so. I always left my door open. Nobody had to announce himself. They, of course, saw if somebody was talking to me already and would not come in, but the door was always open and everybody was welcome. I think this, too, helped a lot. As soon as the afternoon meeting was finished, I made a bee-line for the Delegates' Lounge; not so much out of a desire to get to know what they were thinking but to be in contact, because the podium, though it is right in the middle of the Assembly chamber, is a very lonely place. The very first day after the first sitting, I felt very cold - not physically but just as if I had been left out in the cold - and not in touch with my colleagues, and I took that as a great privation. Thereafter, I kept in constant touch with them, which helped a lot because the observations which my colleagues made without reference to any particular item but just generally concerning their views of things conveyed a good deal to me, which I could take care of, so that in a sense they were guiding me and I could give effect to what they wished done. In the end, I think the partnership proved, if I might venture to say so, a complete success. Question : Were there any other innovations of techniques, such as your use of the room behind the podium or your more careful planning of the agenda which you implemented ? Zafrulla : On two or three problems I announced in the Session that the parties concerned should get together and come to some agreement, which obviously meant that if they wished me to assist, I was ready to do so. That's what happened, and we discussed things behind the scenes, and we untangled the situation and then the matter went through the Assembly very smoothly. For instance, the question of the timing of the elections of the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship