Wings of Duty — Page 32

Syed Muhammad Ahmad 32 worker would bring back necessary items purchased in Lahore because it had become almost impossible to go to Batala or Amritsar to buy certain essentials required by the community. After a few days, there was a change to this routine and the worker from Qadian began to stay in Lahore overnight while we would fly back with the worker who had come the previous day. In this way, whoever was sent to Lahore would get a whole day in the city, rather than just six or seven hours. It is hard to explain just how difficult it was to receive technical assistance in Lahore immediately after Partition. For example, it was difficult to find anywhere to recharge airplane batteries. There was a devoted Ahmadi named Muhammad Latif who owned a shop in Lakshmi Chowk where car batteries could be charged. He had rigged a special circuit in his shop where, whenever required, the community’s airplane batteries could be restored to power. Many years later he closed this shop and today his sons have a car dealership on Jail Road called Latif Motors. I always keep Muhammad Latif in my prayers and also pray that his sons are successful in their trade. One morning, just before our daily flight from Qadian to Lahore was set to leave, Huzoor called me to his office in Qasr-e-Khilafat. He told me that I had