First Grain of Sand — Page 24
8 FIRST GRAIN OF SAND 3. Maulana Ghulam Ahmad of Baddomalhi 4. Maulana Muhammad Shahzadah 5. Maulana Zain-ul-Abidin of Mauritius 6. Maulana Zill-ur-Rahman Bengalee 7. Myself The manner in which Hazrat Haafiz Roshan Alira dedicated nearly three years coaching and preparing us with great interest, love, and sincerity is a testament to his incredible legacy. He acted more like a loving father than a formal teacher and would take care of each student personally. Occasionally, he would invite us to his home for a formal dinner and sometimes would wash the hands of some students to give them an example to follow. Sometimes he took us with him on missionary errands and preaching expeditions and thus provided us with real-world training in this sphere. After completing this Missionary Program, I was appointed in early 1923 as a full-fledged missionary and given a one-year assign- ment to the state of Jammu & Kashmir. At this time, the trains did not come to Qadian. Thus, when I left Qadian to travel to Jammu for my new assignment, I had to get to Batala first in order to take the train from that station. As I waited at the Batala station for the train to arrive, I thought to myself that our Community would not be able to pay me a sal- ary for my new assignment because we had limited means, and Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih had already instructed that those who devote their lives should not seek money from the Community. I accepted this idea and reflected how the great Companions of the Promised Messiahas would survive by eating a few leaves from a tree. Gaining inspiration from that example, I satisfied myself