I Remember Marine Academy, Juldia Chittagong: Mubashir Ahmed Khan (2E)

[PART-1] 29.04.2017

I belong to the 2nd Batch of the Academy, so about five decades ago, I was Engineering cadet at this Institution.  The Academy started functioning in September 1962. It’s first name was Mercantile Marine Academy but soon after it became Marine Academy.  Once a quiz competition was held at the Academy ( I was junior cadet then ), a question was put to the participating cadets, “who laid the foundation stone of the Academy?” The answer was, “nobody”.  So no such ceremony of stone laying of this Institution had ever been held.  The first Commandant of the Academy was Commodore  M Asif Alavi.  The faculty staff included Commander M A Ansari, Head of the Engineering Department. He was also known as Chief Engineer. Mr Aqil Quraishi (ex-chief engineer, merchant navy) was Engineering Lecturer. His designation at the Academy was that of Second Engineer.  Mr Aqil Quraishi, later on retired as Engineer Surveyor and Chief Examiner of Engineers in Karachi. It is interesting to note that in the early years of the Academy, mechant ship’s ranks were used for the professional staff members. In addition to Chief Engineer and Second Engineer, there was one Chief Officer also. He was Captain Nazar Hussain Shah, the Head of the Nautical Department.   During our cadetship period, Captain Mukri Joined the Academy to replace  Nazar Hussain Shah who took command of the newly acquired Vessel M V Abasin owned by the National Shipping Corporation of Pakistan. Late Noorul Amin (Education Officer) taught us Physics and later on Abdul Hakim also joined the Academy as Education Officer.  He taught Physics and Maths to cadets.  There was a Scottish Lecturer Captain Watkinson who taught at the Academy for a period of about two and a half years.  I remember the farewell lunch given in his honour and the presents from the cadets when he was leaving for Scotland. Captain Watkinson was Extra Master and taught Navigation/Seamanship to the Nautical cadets. He always wore white shirt and pant (not uniform) and would come to the Academy two/ three days a week by boat. On other week days he probably performed some other official duties related to shipping affairs.                        

Lt. Commander Asrarullah was Head of the Education Department.   In addition to giving lectures, he was responsible for the day to day affairs of the cadets. Lt. Commander Asrarullah had excellent memory and a good sense of humour.  He would come to his office early in the morning and his breakfast would be brought for him later on.  Late night also, he could be seen sitting in his office doing work.  Captain N H Shah would call Asrarullah sahib as “Headmaster”.

Now I shall give some details of how I managed to join the Academy as cadet. I was student of BSc (Honours) in Mathematics at Dacca (now Dhaka) University and had completed my first year of study. Before this, I had come to know about the establishment of the Mercantile Marine Academy in Chittagong.  In fact, Commodore M Asif Alavi had come to Dacca (Dhaka) University to give a lecture. I was also among the audience students.  He introduced himself as the Commandant of Marine Academy and at the end of lecture, he answered questions put to him by the students. ( Here the readers of this article might be curious to know that being a Pashto speaking Pathan belonging to the North of Pakistan/Peshawar, how I had landed up at Dhaka University in the first place. I passed my Intermediate Examination from Islamia College Pashawar in 1962. It was called FSc in West Pakistan/now Pakistan. It’s equivalent in East Pakistan/now Bangladesh was known as ISc. Under the Federal Government of Pakistan, an Interwing Student Exchange Programme had been started in 1961. Under this Programme, 20 students would be selected from West Pakistan/Pakistan to study under scholarship  in different universities of East Pakistan/Bangladesh. Similarly, every year 20 students would be sent from Bangladesh to do high degree courses in Pakistan. I was selected under this Scheme for BSc Honours though I was keen for BSc Engineering. BSc/MSc path was not satisfying for me so joining the Academy seemed to be a better option for my future career. The opportunity was there and by the grace of God Almighty, I successfully availed it. At Dhaka University, there were other students also who had applied for admission to the Academy.  They were Mr. Hussain Imam and Mr. Faiz Ahmad Biswas, both from the Chemistry Department.  Other applicants I came to were Qazi Kamaluddin, C F Zaman and Qamrul Azam Ansari.  The written examination was held at Dhaka College (near New Market). There were four papers, i.e. Maths, Physics, English and General Knowledge.  I was the only candidate who appeared in this examination on the basis of West Pakistan domicile.  The Marine Academy policy was to select 21 cadets from West Pakistan and 21 from Purbo Pakistan. The candidates who passed the written examination were called for interview in Dhaka.  The Interview team was headed by the Commandant, Commodore M Asif Alavi. The other members were Commander M A Ansari and Lt. Commander Asrarullah.  I remember well when Lt. Commander Asrarullah came out of the Interview room and called my name.  I still remember the questions put to me by the Commandant , M A Ansari and answers given by me.  The interview went well.  The last candidate to be interviewed was late Jehangir Habib.  After the interviews were over, the Commandant assembled all candidates and delivered a speech. He had excellent command over English and would never miss any opportunity to give  speech.  It was his way of visiting educational institutions throughout Pakistan ( East and West Wings) and giving speeches to students.  

The list of selected candidates (2nd Batch) came in the newspapers.  We also received letters from the Academy with instructions and date of arrival at the Academy.  Before joining the Academy, I had the lucky opportunity of meeting in Dhaka, three cadets of the 1st Batch.  These were Captain Belayet Hussain, Captain Zahiruddin Mahmud and M T Siddique.  I got useful information from them about life in the Academy and merchant navy career.  Myself, Hussain Imam, Faiz Ahmad Biswas and Qamrul Azam almost together made preparations for our journey to Chittagong for reporting at the Academy.  These gentlemen deposited money with me to book second class berths for four of us in train from Dhaka to Chittagong.  It was at about 10 pm, on the 30th of September 1963 that our train journey started.  C F Zaman, Qazi Kamaluddin, Sultan Ahmad Taufiq and Aminul Haq were also travelling with us in another compartment of the train. We reached Chittagong next day in the morning and met other cadets at the Rail Station.  We were taken in groups in the Academy’s vehicle to the jetty and then by boat to the Academy.  It was almost afternoon that we were finally at the Academy.  All cadets of the 2nd Batch were gathered in rows in front of the Cadets Block and Lt. Commander Asrarullah came out of his office.  I was surprised to note that he addressed each cadet by his name.  He welcomed the new cadets and gave some verbal instructions.  We were then handed over to our seniors.  I was placed in Mizzen Top.  Late Salahuddin was Cadet Captain and late Ali Sarwar, the Leading Cadet of our Division.  (Ali Sarwar passed away recently in Karachi. May his soul rest in peace. Amen). It is interesting to note here that our seniors were Engineering cadets only.  During the summer holidays, it was decided by the Academy management that the 1st Batch Nautical cadets should join ships instead of coming to the Academy for the second year of study.  However this exercise was done only once.  Later on, both Nautical and Engineering cadets would study for two years (four terms) in the Academy.  We juniors did not get tough time or serious ragging from our seniors as they did not  themselves have the experience of such things. During out time, the Academy was in some sort of infancy and many facilities were non existent.  There was no swimming pool.  There was no cinema or television and no overhead projector.  The Academy did not have even photocopiers. There was one cyclostyle machine for printing sketches and exam papers.  Tape Recorder was something rare and the Academy did not have it. Computer was not known and video had not been invented then.  For recreation, there was one three band radio in the smoke room.  A record player came later on.  The indoor games consisted of table tennis, carom boards and playing cards only. Sports facilities were however ample.  Cadets played football,volleyball, badminton, softball and basketball on regular basis.  Cricket was played on weekends. Some of the cadets were very good players. Every cadet was involved actively in boat handling, sailing and rowing. There was no tennis court on the Academy premises at that time.  

The Academy was located on the other bank of Karnafully River. There was no bridge on the River so naturally going from the Academy to Coal Depot jetty on the other side of the River was by boat.  The Academy had two boats which were at the mooring almost in the middle of the River. One was Lifeboat, also known as Sindbad.  The other boat was called Kingfisher.  The Academy Jetty was under construction, therefore the short distance between River bank and boats was covered by sampan.  The Jetty had severely being damaged by cyclone before our joining. The construction work on the jetty continued during our stay and had almost completed by our passing out in July 1965. However, finishing touches still remained to done. By this time, the boats could easily come alongside the Jetty and sampan service was no longer required. Slightly before our passing out, The Academy acquired a new boat. It was built at Narayanganj and named Noorjehan.  Lt. Commander Asrarullah told us that the new boat had cost the Academy one lac  eighteen thousand (118000) rupees (takas). It was a huge amount of money at that time. In addition, the Academy had three more boats also. One (with no name) was used by the cadets for rowing practice in Karnafully River.  The other two sailing boats would be kept in the nearby pond for the  sailing exercise of cadets.

The Chittagong Airport was located just opposite the Academy on the other side of Karnafully. With the help of binoculars, we could easily see the taking off and landing of aircrafts on the runway.  Also watching merchant ships passing  near the Academy while leaving or entering Chittagong Port used to be something we enjoyed. I remember one day when M V Safina-e-Arab with Hajis ( pilgrims) on board had left Chittagong Port and was bound for Jeddah. The Ship was well decorated with flags. There were other cargo cum passenger ships which ran regularly between Karachi and Chittagong. These were M V Shams, M V Rustom and M V Ocean Energy. These vessels would carry pilgrims also from Karachi and Chittagong to Jeddah during Haj season. It was due to the personal effort and excellent public relations skill of Lt. Commander Asrarullah that the Academy cadets would travel onboard these ships between Chittagong and Karachi free of charge. However these cadets would not mere passengers. On board, the Nautical cadets would do chipping and painting, also helping the watch-keeping officer on Bridge. The Engineering cadets would spend four to six hours in the Engine Room  doing watch or helping the day work engineer of the ship. I remember well that on completion of first year, I came to Karachi alongwith other fellow cadets on board M V Rustom. After passing out in 1965, I sailed to Karachi on board M V Ocean Energy. These ships would stop at Columbo for about a day for Bunker. Interestingly, we cadets having no passport or CDC would be allowed to go ashore for a few hours.   

[PART-2] 10.08.2020

 So far I have written four articles on the above topic. The Article (2) has been lost and despite many efforts, it could not be retrieved ( both soft and hard copies). Therefore, I am writing it again from my memory. Here I shall mention the VIP’s and other personalities who visited the Academy during my cadetship period (1963—1965).

 The honourable VIP who visited the Academy was Late Monem Khan,the Governor of Purbo Pakistan ( now Bangladesh). He had actually come to address a public meeting in the nearby village. After the meeting was over, he came to the Academy. He was simply dressed, wearing white pajama, white Kurta/Punjabi and white cap. I did not see any type of protocol with him. The Commandant (late M Asif Alavi) took him around visiting classrooms also. The Governor, when in the chartroom class, asked cadet Gohar Rahman which area of Pakistan he came from. He replied, “Hazara”. Interestingly, President Ayub Khan also hailed from Hazara, a district of North West Frontier Province (abbreviated as NWFP) of Pakistan. It is strange that this province ( Pashawar being its capital ) did not have any proper name. It was known as North West Frontier Province or simply Frontier Province. Very recently it has been officially named as Pakhtunkhwa Province. I myself belong to Charsadda, eighteen miles north of Peshawar, being the Tehsil/Subdivision of Peshawar District. Now Charsadda itself is a District. Charsadda is the Headquarter of National Awami Party, being the birthplace of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan ( also referred to as Sarhadi Gandhi, on the basis of his non- violence policy). Abdul Ghaffar Khan (his followers would call him as Badshah Khan or Bacha Khan) was political colleague of Bengali leader Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani. I remember during summer vacations of 1964, I attended a political meeting (jalsa) in Charsadda arranged by National Awami Party. The main speaker was no other than Maulana Bhashani who was then on visit to Charsadda. The other prominent speaker was Abdul Wali Khan (son of Abdul Ghaffar Khan).

 In the previous paragraph, I have mentioned Cadet Gohar Rahman. Captain Gohar Rahman and Captain Azizul Haq (3N) passed their Extra Master Examinations from UK almost simultaneously.

The other prominent visitor to the Academy was the Acting President of Pakistan, Fazlul Quader Choudhury. He was wearing suit and looked smart. He had a pleasant personality. After guard of honour and march past,all the cadets assembled in the seniors class room. The Commandant in his speech welcomed the honourable guest. Fazlul Quader Choudhury delivered a nice speech. His catch words during his talk were, “my dear cadets”. There was a rumour that President Ayub Khan would be visiting the Academy. However, the rumour never materialised and the visit of Field Martial did not take place.

 The other prominent visitor to the Academy was the British High Commissioner (Ambassador). He was especially shown the the equipments donated by the British Government to the Academy and how these were used by the cadets. Another visitor was the Military Attache from the Russian Embassy.

 Once a German Naval Ship was in Chittagong Port. A few cadets from the Academy including myself had the chance officially to visit this Ship. We enjoyed being on board the foreign Naval Ship. I saw some cadets on board from Cadet College, Chittagong. All the visitors were entertained with snacks on the deck. Some Personnel of this Ship also came to the Academy. They were taken around the Academy and then entertained with tea.

 Pakistan Navy Flotilla consisting of four/five Ships came to Chittagong Port. The Commanding Officer of the Flotilla was Commodore Salimi who paid visit to the Academy. After guard of honour and march past from cadets, I heard him sayinag, “very good turn out”. Myself and other cadets, under supervision of Commander Ansari, went on board the Naval Ship Babur. We toured the Ship and went to the Engine Room also. A group of Naval cadets from the Flotilla came to the Academy. A basketball match was played between the guests and the Academy cadets. In the Naval cadets group, there was a senior cadet named Sarfaraz Khan. He was Pashto speaking Pathan hailing from my birth place Charsadda. Once I met him in Karachi. He was then Commodore and Commanding Officer of Naval Base Karsaz, Karachi. He told me that he was the highest qualified person in the Pakistan Navy. For some time, he served as Commandant of Pakistan Marine Academy, Karachi.  Sarfaraz Khan retired as Rear Admiral and now resides in Florida, USA.

 Once a group of West Pakistani students ( who were attending Colleges and Universities in Purbo Pakistan under the Interwing Students Exchange Programme ), came to the Academy. The group consisted of about two dozen boys and half dozen girls. Every year, during vacations, these students would tour Purbo Pakistan to see different parts of the country. Before joining the Academy, I was also Interwing Exchange student and had studied for one year at the Mathematics Department of Dhaka University. Being in the Acamemy, I was in touch with these students. I asked their leader Mr. Iqbal Jawed Unis (student of BSc. Honours in Physics, Dhaka University) that in their next fourthcoming tour programme, visit to the Academy should also be included. He happily complied and and brought the students group to the Academy when on tour of Chittagong. The guests spent about 6-7 hours and really enjoyed their visit. They were entertained with tea and lunch. Mr. Iqbal Jawed Unis said in his goodby speech that the arrangements of their visit to the Academy were excellent and thanked the cadets who organised the programme so nicely. Myself and a few other cadets went with the guests in Academy boats to Coal jetty and saw them off.

Commander Ansari, Head of the Engineering Department set up Purbo Pakistan Branch of the Institute of Marine Engineers, London. In this connection, he invited a couple of officials of the Institute to the Academy. After guard of honour and march past, the cadets assembled in the makeshift auditorium. Commander Ansari and Engineer Aqil Quaaishi read their papers followed by speeches by the guests. It may be noted that the Institute of Marine Engineers then is now known as The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST).

One afternoon about thirty section officers of the Purbo Pakistan Government visited the Academy. They observed the cadets’ parade and were impressed. Officers from Chittagong Customs were regular visitors to the Academy. These officers included females also. One afternoon, a young teacher alongwith about thirty five students of class 6 to 8 of local school came to the Academy and handed over a handwritten letter from the Headmaster with a request that the students be allowed to see the Academy. Being Cadet Captain on duty, I called Lt. Commander Asrarullah and informed him about the visitors. He allowed me to do what was appropriate. I divided the students into three groups and handed over each group to one junior cadet for taking them around the Academy. In the end, the students were entertained with tea.

On one occasion, a few poets from West Pakistan,on visit to Chittagong, came to the Academy as private guests of the Commandant. Cadet Syed Mohammad was sent ashore (Coal Jetty) to receive and bring them to the Commandant’s house.

Once a group of journalists from Chittagong came to the Academy. Lt. Commander Asrarullah took them around the Campus. They had lunch with the cadets. Last but not the least, a big group of cadets from Cadet College, Petaro (Sindh Province of West Pakistan) while on tour of Purbo Pakistan, visited the Academy.

It is interesting to note that I never saw any cadets’ parents visiting the Academy. The only exception was the father of cadet C F Zaman. He was at the Academy for a short time. Even on the annual Passing Out Parade Days, no parents were seen. It is understandable that West Pakistani parents could not take a long journey of more than thousand miles. Probably the Purbo Pakistani parents were not keen enough to visit the Academy.

[PART-3] 31.12.2019

I shall mention some other staff members of the Academy.  Mr. Farooqui was the Librarian and his younger brother worked as the Academy’s driver.  Mr. Farooqui was from Bihar (India) and spoke Urdu. One day, he offered me a pan. I put it in my mouth. Next moment, I found my mouth full of red liquid. Since that day, I have never used pan again.  Throughout my life, both at sea and ashore, I have never used any intoxicating item e.g. Hukka, sheesha, cigarette, cannabis or liquor.  The Pathan’s favourite item for intoxication is called naswar.  It is powdered tobacco mixed with some light chemicals.  One Pathan 4th Batch Nautical cadet Zar Gul Khan would use naswar.  I asked his colleagues how he would get this item in the Academy.  I was told that he would prepare naswar himself.

The other important member of the Academy was Mr. B K  Rahman. He had been Petty Officer and Gunnery Instructor (POGI) in the Pakistan Navy.  He had many responsibilities including being Drill Instructor.  He would be present at the parade ground  during cadets’ march past. His catchword was tharathari (meaning jaldi, quick/fast). Mr.B K  Rahman would sell Life Insurance in his spare time.  He was Agent for Habib Insurance Company of Karachi.  Mr. Naseer was from the Navy and acted as Signalling Instructor at the Academy. In addition, he was responsible for the Academy’s boat operations.  Mr. Naseer was Bengali but he could speak very fluent Urdu. Once a music function was held at the Academy arranged by Petty Officers.  ( Due to some reason, I could not attend the function).  One young female singer was the main performer.  Next day morning, I was with Mr. Naseer near the Academy jetty.  I saw this female artist  on her way to the jetty for going back by boat. I could not see her face as she was wearing burqa (veil).  I was a bit surprised to observe that Mr. Naseer spoke to her in Urdu, seeing her off and wishing her good luck. Our Physical Training Instructor (PTI) was Mr. Ghafoor. Another Petty Officer who joined the Academy during our third or fourth term was Mr.Mithra. He belonged to the minority community and had a pleasant personality.

The Academy’s library was my favourite place.  In the library, there were many books including encyclopedias.  The books were mainly English but a limited number of Urdu and Bengali books were also available to the cadets. Three English newspapers would be on the table, one local English paper, the Morning News from Dacca (Dhaka) and the Statesman from Calcutta (Kolkata). Bangla newspapers and Urdu daily Jang  were also available. The local English daily would give all the information about movements of ships, i.e. list of ships in Chittagong Port, ships leaving and entering Port and the names of ships at Outer Anchorage, under the heading “SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.”

The daily Statesman (Kulkata) was published on brown paper. Everyday it carried a cartoon. I still remember one cartoon in which a young man is sitting on a chair and reading a book in candle light.  The candle is on a small table in front of him. The title of the book was “ADVANCED ELECTRICITY.” Weekly Time magazine would come but it would be snatched away by senior office bearers and would be available to cadets later on. They were expected to be happy with old issues.

In the Cadet Block (Accommodation), there was a small blackboard on the wall.  Every week a quotation under the heading “THOUGHT OF THE WEEK” would be written on it. Every junior cadet was expected to memorise this quotation as soon as possible. Any senior cadet could ask any junior to narrate the “Thought of the Week”  If the junior cadet could nor do so , he would be punished. Every Friday, in the Commandant’s Talk, The Commandant ( Mohammad Asif Alavi ) would ask that a cadet should narrate “ Thought of the Week .“ The Commandant would say,” Who can explain it”. Then the Commandant would say, “any improvement in the explanation!” Another cadet ( most of the times myself) would stand up and give more explanation. I had kept a note book in which I would write “Thought of the Week” and its explanation. So every Friday, when the Commandant would ask for explanation or improved explanation, I would be well prepared.  I remember one Friday, when I stood up for explanation, I started with the words, “ we know that a thief can catch a thief” and all the cadets in the hall burst into laughter. “A thief can catch a thief” actually had been quoted a few times by the Commandant in his previous speeches.     

It is worth mentioning that the people living in the villages around the Academy were mostly seamen or fishermen and could speak Urdu. Once a football team from the local village played a  match against the        Academy’s players.  The fight was quite tough, indicating that the village youth were good footballers.  

[PART-4] 04.05.2020

During my cadetship (1963—1965), the life in the Academy was simple. The one luxury available to the cadets was the fresh water located outside the Library on the ground floor of the Accommodation Block. Except the Commandant’s house, all the senior officers didn’t have refrigerators at their residences. Sometimes, I would see the officers’ servants filling water jugs from the cooler.

About three kilometres south of the Academy, there was a village. The cadets would call it the smugglers’ village. These villagers would sell foreign goods purchased from ships at the Outer Anchorage. The foreign brand cigarette 555 was popular with cadets who smoked. I visited this village as junior cadet with a group of other cadets led by late Salahuddin Ahmed (Cadet Captain). Second time, as Leading Cadet, I took a big group of junior cadets to this village. One junior cadet expressed his surprise saying to me that everybody in the area was wearing foreign clothes. The main purpose of the cadets’ visit to the village was outing or picnic. Making purchases of foreign goods except buying cigarettes was not the aim.

Now we come to another topic i.e. speeches. Since there was no auditorium in the Academy, the senior engineers’ class room would be turned into makeshift auditorium by putting additional benches and chairs to accommodate all cadets. This job would be done by junior cadets early morning every Friday for what was known as the Commandant’s talk. One Friday, the Commandant (Commodore Mohammad Asif Alavi) would deliver his lecture. Next Friday, there would be speech competition among the three Divisions. One junior cadet from each Division would speak on a topic given beforehand. The Commandant was the Judge. After the speeches were over, the Commandant would declare the result (i.e. first, second and third). One of our junior cadets was Mr Imran Ansari (2N). He was smart, talkative and had good sense of humour. One Friday, it was his turn to give speech. We were extremely surprised when after speaking for about two minutes, he waved to the cadets indicating that he was in problem and could not continue speaking. Then he left the dais saying “sorry sir”. The Commandant, when announcing the result said, “there was one misfire” and all the cadets burst into laughter. Later on, Lt. Commander Asrarullah (Chief Education Officer) expressed his utter displeasure over the matter. In the beginning of my third term, a variety programme was presented by some talented senior and junior cadets under the supervision of Rashid Ali Kazmi (2E). In addition to music, a short drama was also staged. In this play, Imran Ansari acted as servant. His performance was very good. He later told me that during the play, he also tried to cover up the other actors who faced difficulty with their lines or acting. Such a vocal person failing to give a ten minutes speech was something very astonishing.

When my turn for speech giving came one Friday, the topic was “cheerfulness”. The other two speakers were junior cadets Sheikh Shahabuddin and Altaf Shiekh. My speech was not very good as it consisted of quotations on cheerfulness noted from Library encyclopedias and some repetitions. The Judge was Acting Commandant, Captain Nazar Hussain Shah. At the end of speeches, he remarked, “the topic was cheerfulness but the speakers themselves did not look cheerful”. He declared Altaf Sheikh to be first but did not bother to mention which speakers were second and third.

One memorable speech competition was held towards the end of our second term. The main speakers were junior office bearers, C F Zaman, Sultan Taufiq and Hussain Imam. One aim of this competition was to assess the capability of speakers for promotion. The topic was, “what I have learned at the Academy”. These three cadets were then promoted to the ranks of Senior Cadet Captain for the 3rd and 4th terms. It was quite amusing when Hussain Imam said in his speech that at the Academy, along with other things, he learned more about diseases.

The Commandant (Commodore Mohammad Asif Alavi) was an excellent speaker. On alternate Fridays, he would speak to the cadets. I still remember his words. He would say, “what is tact? Tact is to say the most unpleasant thing in the most pleasant way.” He quoted a few times the proverb,” a thief can catch a thief.” A few times, he referred to the book (available in our Library),” The Importance of Living” written by the Chinese Philosopher Len Yutang (1895—1976). Two three times, he said, “if you have a problem, work or project, write down the advantages and disadvantages. If the advantages are more, go ahead with it. If the disadvantages are more, forget about it.” I always found the Commandant’s speeches not only interesting but extremely useful for character building. One day it was announced that at 6;30pm, the Commandant’s speech and interview would be broadcast (live) from Chittagong Radio Station. All the cadets listened to the speech with great interest. The Commandant spoke about career in the Merchant Navy and then answered questions put to him by the Radio Interviewer. It is worth mentioning that The Commandant, during vacations, would visit universities and other educational institutions throughout Pakistan(both West Pakistan, now Pakistan and East Pakistan, now Bangladesh) and deliver speeches to students. Once he went as far as Peshawar (about one thousand miles north of Karachi) and spoke to the students of Islamia College Peshawar. I had passed my FSc. (equivalent to ISc. in Bangladesh) from this College. The visit to Islamia College Peshawar and speech giving was mentioned by the Commandant himself in a speech to the Academy cadets. (That is how I came to know about the Commandant’s adventure in the Northern Areas of Pakistan).  

[PART-5] 24.12.2020

Eid greeting cards were printed by the Academy but the design was very simple. To make these attractive, we would paste ships’ photos inside the folded cards. Mr. Rashid Kazmi, with his camera, would take pictures of ships passing by the Academy jetty. Cadet Anwarul Haq was also a good photographer. It may be noted that photography during our time at the Academy was black and white only. The luxury of colour photography was not available then. (Digital photography was unknown).

After the first term (junior cadets) and third term (senior cadets) examinations, the Academy would be closed for about ten days. During these holidays, West Pakistani cadets would go with East Pakistani (Bengali) cadets to their homes for enjoyment. Following the third term examination, I had the opportunity to spend a few days at the houses of cadet Hussain Imam and cadet Sharif Atiqur Rahman as guest. Sharif Atiqur Rahman’s house was the official residence of his father who was serving as Deputy Superintendent of Police in Comilla City. Hussain Imam’s house was in village Bari Chang, in the outskirts of Comilla. His father was a civil servant. I had good time with my hosts and enjoyed their hospitality. To spend the rest of my holidays, I headed for Dhaka by bus. Sharif Atiqur Rahman saw me off at the Comilla bus terminal. In Dhaka, I stayed in F H Hall ( my previous hostel), meeting my friends and colleagues before returning to the Academy.

Now a few anecdotes about our life at the Academy. In one examination paper of general knowledge,a question was asked, “what does R S V P stand for?” One cadet probably had seen these letters on an invitation card. Somehow, he thought for a while and considering it to be an appropriate answer, wrote “Reply Soon Via Phone”. It became a popular joke among the cadets. The correct French words were “Respondez Sil Vous Plait.”
In the beginning of first term, one of our batchmate had problem with marching. He was under the impression that while marching a cadet moved his right hand and right foot forward together (and moving left hand and left arm backwards together). However with the passage of time and marching practice, he managed to overcome the problem.
One of our batchmate cadets was sleeping addict. Sleeping in the classroom was normal (when the teacher was not present). On the parade ground while standing, he would fall asleep. Once there was a tug of war match between two divisions. This cadet was anchor person at the rear end of the rope. When the whistle was blown and match started it was observed that despite pulling hard by both teams in opposite directions, the rope won’t move. It was found that he had positioned himself with rope end around his body and was asleep.

It was around 1989-90 that a get together function of the Academy Old Boys Association (MACOBA—Pakistan) was held in a posh hotel of Karachi. Commander Ansari, before starting his speech, said to the stage secretary,”when my speech time is up, please remind me to stop. Normally when I start speaking, I forget to stop.” This was true during our cadetship at Juldia Academy. Commander Ansari’s period with our class would be the last one before lunch. A few times, I asked Ansari Sahib some question. His answer was so long that we would miss our lunch. Later on my classmates prevented from putting questions to Ansari Sahib.

Late Asrarullah, Chief Education Officer had a good sense of humour and sharp memory. One day I went to him and said,” Sir, students from West Pakistan are coming to the Academy on visit.” He immediately replied, “should we stop them?” I said,” Sir, we cannot stop them as their Academy visit programme has been finalised.” Once he assembled some cadets in front of his office in the veranda. He divided them in three groups. He asked one group to stand on his right and the second group to his left. There was no space left in the veranda for the third group cadets. He asked them to stand outside in the open air. Interestingly, it was raining at that time. One day during his lecture in our class, he said that during his studentship, ha had acted in a drama. The cadets asked him which role he had played. His answer was “woman” and the whole class burst into laughter. With a little embarrassment, he said, “no laughing, do your work”.

[PART-6] 13.03.2021

As I have mentioned in my first article that in the Academy, ship’s ranks were used for the teaching staff, i.e. The Head of the Nautical Department was Chief Officer ( Captain Shah and then Captain Mukri). The Head of the Engineering Department was called Chief Engineer ( Commander Ansari). Engineering Instructor Aqil Quraishi was known as Second Engineer.

The offices of Chief Engineer and Second Engineer were side by side. Once I observed that Commander Ansari picked up phone and asked the telephone operater to connect him to Second Engineer. His voice was so loud that Aqil Quraishi overheard him and waited for the phone to ring.

I have also mentioned in my article,”I Remember Marine Academy Juldia Chittagong (2)” that Some officials from the Institute of Marine Engineers, London ( now IMarEST ) paid one day visit to the Academy. Commander Ansari asked three/four cadets to wear civilian clothes and pose as engineers from ships in Chittagong Port. Interestingly, nobody knew about Commander Ansari’s scheme except these cadets in civvies. I personally overheard Captain Watkinson asking one cadet, “why are you wearing civilian clothes?” More interestingly, Commander Ansari read a paper on oil exploration in Purbo Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The guest speaker said in his speech that oil exploration had nothing to do with marine engineering.

During our cadetship, it was a routine of sending one junior cadet on top of the 200 ft high water tank to keep an eye on the movements of Academy’s boats. I performed this duty several times. Once cadet Qamrul Azam was sent up the water tank top. In a relaxed mood, he started singing. The wind was blowing in such a direction that his song was clearly heard in one staff member’house. This household complained to the Academy against Qamrul Azam.

During our second year (1964—1965), Two senior cadets left the Academy during the middle of training. One was Nautical cadet Shahabuddin Pathan. He availed a scholarship to study Nautical Course in Yugoslavia. His letters would come regularly to the Academy. He mentioned in one letter that he had switched over from Nautical to Marine Engineering. In 1971, I met him by coincidence in Karachi Saddar. Since then I haven’t heard about him. The other Senior Engineering cadet who left the Academy in the beginning of second year was Aminul Haq. He went into civil service. He belonged to a respectable family of bureaucrats. His older brother was Deputy Commissioner. I saw with him photos of this brother’s wedding ceremony in which Lt. General Azam Khan (then Governor of Purbo Pakistan ) was present. Both these cadets were from Purbo Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

There was one Nautical cadet Javed Akhtar who belonged to Karachi. His father was serving in the Pakistan Embassy in Indonesia. This cadet was mentally unstable and the Academy did not allow him to come to the Academy for the second year following summer vacations.

Now I mention the prizes given to outstanding cadets on the eve of Passing Out Parade. The main prize was the President’s Gold Medal. It was awarded to cadet Shahab Razzaqi (1st Batch) and cadet S I H Zaidi (2nd Batch). Both were Engineering cadets. In the 3rd Batch,the President’s Gold Medal went to cadet Arif Sultan, also an Engineering cadet. In our Batch (2nd), the Best Nautical Cadet Prize was given to cadet Hussain Imam and the Best Engineering Cadet Prize was received by late Ahmad Kamal Alavi. It is interesting to remember that the cadets for these Awards were nominated by the Academy Management . However, all the cadets, seniors and juniors would vote in favour of their favourite nominees for the Awards. I don’t know when this voting system by the cadets was abolished.

[PART-7] 29.07.2021

Late Captain Nur Ahmed (2N) and myself, during our second year, shared the same room next to the seniors dormitory on the ground floor of the cadets block. The adjacent room was occupied by C F Zaman, the senior cadet captain of Mizzen Division. I was cadet captain and Nur Ahmed, leading cadet of the same Division(Top).

Late Nur Ahmed had pen friendship with a European girl. In one letter to Nur Ahmed, she wrote, “I am a conservative girl and don’t want to continue friendship with you. Please don’t communicate with me in future.” Interestingly, her photo she sent with this letter was her full body picture in bikini.

Late Nur Ahmed was a smart cadet. Once he asked me, “ why in Indian and Pakistani films, parents address their daughter as baita (son) and not baiti (daughter).” I explained to him that it was due to sheer love that parents use the word baita (son) for their daughter. The word “baita” is used only when father or mother speaks to daughter.
In my previous article, I have mentioned Cadet Shahabuddin Pathan (2N). He was in the Academy when the news of his father’s death came. I read it in the newspaper also. The newspaper mentioned that late Gheyasuddin Pathan ( father of Shahabuddin Pathan ) had been Provincial /Federal Minister in Pakistan Government. Shahabuddin Pathan then left the Academy and got scholarship to study in Yugoslavia. He was in touch with senior cadets of the Academy through letters. I remember he wrote in one letter, “convey my hates to cadet Imran Ansari.”Instead of writing Imran Ansari’s name, he used his nickname. Cadet Gauhar Rahman (2N) joined the Academy one week later. Soon after, one day all junior cadets had assembled in the Nautical Equipments Hall. I overheard cadet Shahabuddin Pathan saying to cadet Gohar Rahman,” call me sir! ”. It was interesting as seniority difference was only a week.

In the beginning of our second year (third term), before the arrival of 3rd batch cadets and prior to the selection of cadet captains and senior cadet captains from each top (division), every senior office bearer ( all were leading cadets then) was given the chance to act as chief cadet captain for one day. My turn to perform the duty of chief cadet captain came on the day when some press men from Chittagong were on visit to the Academy. The programme was that the media men would have lunch with the cadets followed by tour of the campus led by Asrarullah (Chief Education Officer). When he arrived at the cadets block along with journalists, I greeted him by saluting. However, due to some reason I could not utter a single word and was totally dumb. Asrarullah Sahib, using his presence of mind, saved me from embarrassment by saying,” so the lunch is ready!”. I replied immediately, “yes sir”.

One Friday morning was event of speeches. The Commandant, teaching staff and cadets were assembled in the seniors’ class room on the first floor of the Insruction block of the Academy. (there was no auditorium then). Asrarullah sahib, in his imagination, set up a debating society of the Academy and appointed its office bearers also. Then he stood up and said, “ the secretary (senior cadet Shahab Razzaqi) of the debating society will read the minutes of the last speech competition.” It was for the first time that we heard about the debating society. It was a unique idea concieved by Asrarullah Sahib. More interestingly the topic of debating society was never mentioned in the Academy later on. In fact, the debating society never existed.

It was during the summer vacation that the Administrative Officer of the Academy was changed. The new Administrative Officer said on one occasion, my seven year old son was fascinated by the word “cadet”. He would ask me, “everybody is talking about cadet. What is this cadet ?”

[PART-8] 10.01.2022

In the first batch of the Academy, there was one Pathan cadet Shabbir Khan (Nautical). In the second batch, I was the only Pathan cadet belonging to North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. (This Province has lately been named Pakhtunkhwa ). In Pashto language (my mother tongue) a Pathan is called Pakhtun and the language is known as Pakhto. Interestingly, Pashto is spoken by Taliban and the people of Afghanistan also. The second language of Afghanistan is called Dari which is almost similar to Persian.
In the third batch, there was no Pathan cadet. However, in the fourth batch, there was one Pathan cadet named Zargul Khan (Nautical). Zargul Khan had previously applied for entry into third batch but was not selected then. Next year he applied again, selected and joined the fourth batch of the Academy.
When Acting President of Pakistan visited the Academy and was inspecting cadets guard of honour, he asked a few cadets if they were Pathans. Each cadet replied in the negative. As cadet captain and leader of Mizzen Top juniors, I saluted him. He shook hands with me but did not ask me if I was Pathan. However, when I was leading my Mizzen Top juniors and saluting him, I overheard the Commandant ( M Asif Alavi) telling the Acting President,”this cadet is Pathan.”On the parade ground (I still remember) the Chief Guest asked the Commandant, “do these cadets offer five times prayers ? ” The Commandant’s answer was “yes”. A Bengali Imam was on the Academy’s payroll. He would lead Juma (Friday) and evening prayers regularly.

At the Academy, the cadets were from diverse backgrounds. The cadets from Purbo Pakistan (now Bangladesh) spoke Bangla. However there were a few Urdu speaking cadets also having domicile of Purbo Pakistan. Their families were known as Biharis as they had migrated mostly from Bihar Province of India at the time of Partition in 1947 and settled in Purbo Pakistan.

From West Pakistan, cadets came from Provinces of Sind, Punjab and NWFP. I did not see or hear about any cadet from Balochistan which was the biggest Provinve (area wise) of Pakistan. The Urdu speaking cadets from Karachi were comparatively smarter than other cadets belonging to other Provinces of Pakistan. Among the cadets there was one more difference also. Cadets coming from cadet colleges, e.g. Sargodha (Punjab Province), Hasan Abdal (Punjab Province), Petaro (Sind Province) and Faujdarhat (Chittagong) were smarter than cadets coming from Government schools and colleges.( Private regular schools and colleges were non-existent at that time). Cadets from cadet colleges were more self confident and spoke better English. They were good in sports also. There were a good number of cadets from Cadet College Faujdarhat in the 1st and 2nd batches but interestingly in the 3rd batch, there was not a single cadet from this Institution. Credit goes to the Administration of the Academy that all cadets were treated equally. There was no discrimination on the basis of race, colour, language, provincialism and ethnicity.
I was in the Nautical class during the First Term. However, I was transferred to the Engineering class in the beginning of the Second Term. The Head of the Nautical Department, Captain N H Shah ( called as Chief Officer in the Academy) was a man of discipline. In the classroom, he would keep two stones either in his hands or on the table. He would threaten to throw one stone at any cadet who even slightly misbehaved in the class. However I never observed him hitting any cadet with stone. Once he told me in the class,”you don’t comb your hair”. One week or ten days before the First Term Examination, it is interesting how this bright idea came to his mind. He distributed the Navigation papers among the cadets to study the same for about half hour. He then asked the cadets to put back the papers on the teacher’s table. One cadet was quite smart. He went around the table but did not put the paper back and kept it with him. If Captain Shah had counted the question papers before distribution and after collection, he would have known that one question paper was missing. He did not do so. This matter remained a secret and nobody discussed it later on.

During the First Term Examination, one junior cadet fell. He suffered from Hallucination. On maths paper day, early morning when arrangements were being made to shift him to the Naval Base Hospital ashore, another junior cadet complained of severe stomach ache. He too was taken to the Hospital. After one or two days, these cadets came back to the Academy looking normal and fresh. When I has passed out from the Academy and was doing Apprenticeship at Karachi Shipyard, I heard that one 3rd batch cadet, (during examination) broke the dormitory window glass injuring his right hand palm and fingers. He was excused from attempting the remaining papers.

At the Academy, a lot of abbreviations were used which were sometimes confusing. It took us some time to understand these terms. Examples: LD (Leading Cadet), CC (Cadet Captain), CCD (Cadet Captain on Duty), SCC (Senior Cadet Captain), CCC (Chief Cadet Captain), OD/OOD(Officer on Duty/Officer of the Day, PO ( Petty Officer ), POOD (Petty Officer on Duty), POGI (Petty Officer and Gunnery Instructor) and SBA (Sick Bed Attendant) and PTI ( Physical Training Instructor). Two Navy boats were a few times used by the Academy. One boat was called “Three Tonner” and the other was named “Landing Craft and Vehicle Personnel (LCVP)”. There was a joke. You take two three or four English letters randomly and it will mean something in the Navy. There were some other words also used in the Academy e.g. Outpipe, Reveille, Yellow Band, Court of Honour, Evolution and OLQ (Officer Like Qualities ). One Friday morning, all the cadets had assembled in seniors’ class room waiting for the Commandant to come for his speech. One senior office bearer (cadet) asked a junior cadet, “you will count how many times the Commandant uses the word“Navy” in his speech.”

However, the most commonly used word heard was “Secure”. One day a senior cadet said to me, “your locker is not properly secured”. Other examples, “after cleanship, all cleaning kits should be secured in the designated store room. After volleyball match, the ball and net should be secured in the store. Before lights out at 9:30 PM, the Chief Cadet Captain reporting to the Officer of the Day, also says, “all three boats are secured.” One Sunday at noon time, I overheard one cadet saying,” I had lunch and my stomach is secured.”

Before securing this article I wish to convey New Year’s greetings to all BD mariners worldwide, the Commandant, Staff and Cadets of Bangladesh Marine Academy, Chittagong.

[PART-9] 12.07.2023

This is my 9th article under the above heading. Starting with post and letters, every cadet was required to deposit one letter in stamped envelope written to parents every Sunday evening for posting by the Academy. The Academy had one post office but it did not handle Academy’s post. Instead, one young postman (employee of the Academy) would go to the main post office of Chittagong every morning to take letters and bring post by noon time. The cadets were very smart. Sitting in the classroom, they would know when the postman had come back from the city loaded with letters being waited for by the cadets so anxiously.
Cadet Altaf Shaikh would receive maximum numbers of letters. Once or twice, a letter came addressed as Cadet Irfan Ahmed, Chittagong. The letter first went to Cadet College Faujdarhat. Since there was no cadet of this name in the Institution, the College sent the letter to the Academy, and it was delivered to Cadet Irfan Ahmed.
During my cadetship (1963–!965), many cadets were keen to have pen friendship with European females. Cadet Altaf Shaikh showed me a letter written to him by his pen girlfriend. This lady had written in her letter a few names of girls potentially suitable for pen friendship with Academy cadets. I was a bit surprised to see that against each girl’s name, Altaf Shaikh had written in his own handwriting, names of cadets. In other Words, he had allotted pen friendship females to different cadets. I have mentioned in my article no.7 (I Remember Marine Academy, Juldia, Chittagong) that my colleague late Nur Ahmed (2N) had pen friendship with a European girl. In her one letter, she wrote to Nur Ahmed, “I am a conservative girl and don’t want to continue friendship with you. Please don’t communicate with me in future”. Interestingly, her photo she sent with this letter was her full body picture in bikini. (Late Nur Ahmed and I were living in the same room adjacent to Mizzen Top dormitory. He was Leading Cadet and myself, Cadet Captain).
In my previous articles, I have written about speeches and speech competitions in the Academy. It will be appropriate to write a bit more on this subject. Commodore M Asif Alavi (Commandant) was an excellent speaker. Before joining the Academy, I had listened to his two speeches. One was at Dhaka University where I was student. His second speech was to the Academy applicants. In Dhaka, When the selection interviews were over, the Commandant assembled all candidates in the interview room and delivered a speech. He spoke about life in the Academy and hardships of sea career. I heard the Commandant’s third speech on the second day of my joining the Academy.
On alternate Fridays, the Commandant would speak to the cadets (known as Commandant’s talk). His speeches were interesting with useful information and thought provoking. As for myself, the Urdu proverb rightly applied here. “ Daikhna taqrir ki lizzat ke jo us ne kaha main ne yeh samjha ke goya yeh bhi mere dil ma haih.” Translation: Look at the beauty of speech, I feel that what the speaker is saying is already in my mind. In one of my previous articles, I had mentioned that the Commandant would visit different education institutions throughout East and West Pakistan and deliver speeches. Our colleague cadet Imran Ansari (2N) had good sense of humour. On one occasion, I said to him. “Wherever the Commandant goes, he delivers speeches.” He replied, “the sole purpose of his visits to different places to give speeches.” There is a joke in Urdu. “ Taqrirun ke sae main ham pal kar jawan howe hain.” Translation: We have grown up under the shadow of speeches. From the Commandant’s speeches, the cadets learned a lot about his personality. He said a few times that the best way to improve one’s English language proficiency was to listen to BBC Radio. He himself had practiced so. The Commandant was member of the National Geographic Society. He was interested in Astrology also. In one speech he said that he had personally met the Pope in Vatican City. Indeed, he was a learned man with a pleasant personality. May his soul rest in eternity.
The readers may kindly note that my next article ( I Remember Marine Academy Juldia Chittagong,10 ) will Insha ‘Allah be my last writing on this subject. In this article, I shall try to sum up what has been left in the previous articles.

[PART-10] 13.09.2023

Mubashir Ahmed (Khan)   2E
Email. Mubashira2050@gmail.com
London