My Chlid Hood Story

My grandfather, Chaudhri Sikandar Khan, was a man of a religious
turn of mind and led a pious life. In 1897 he performed the
pilgrimage to Mecca, and also visited Medinah. He wrote a full
account of the journey as it proceeded. In those days it was a very
arduous undertaking. My grandfather and his party performed the
journey from Jeddah to Medinah by sea to Yenbo and thence
overland to Medinah. The return journey was performed in the
same manner. On his return home he told my mother that he had
prayed for little me on every occasion that offered itself. At that
time the pilgrimage was not only an arduous undertaking physically,
it involved a serious hazard for health and life. Dysentery claimed
many victims. Of my grandfather's two companions one began to
suffer from it before arrival back in Bombay, and died soon after
his arrival home. The other developed symptons of it a short while
after his return home and succumbed after a few days. My grandfather
kept in good health for some months after his return and
then fell ill of it. Within a few days his condition became serious.
My father became anxious and began to visit him every evening.
The road from Sialkot to Daska, a distance of sixteen miles, was
not metalled. He rode to Daska every afternoon after court hours,
and rode back to Sialkot early next morning. The time was February
and the return journey during the early hours on horseback was
both uncomfortable and trying. His father's condition continued to
deteriorate and on the last day he stayed with him all the time.