SAILING DOWN MEMORY LANE
(Once upon a time, though very briefly, I had been a sailor)
Reading about the first telephone reminds me about the telephone numbers and I wonder how many of us remember the numbers of family telephones? As far as I can remember they were: Ahsan Manzil - 65; Dilkusha (Paltan) - 53; River View (K.M. Ismail) - 109 and our home (Bait-ul-Amn) - 13. The telephone in Ahsan Manzil was at the "Ghanta Pahra" near the poritco at the main entrance of the building.
As we entered Ahsan Manzil from Islampur Road,through the main gate - with Naubat Khana above it - we passed Mansur Castle and the Mosque on the right and the "Hauz" place for "Wazu" on the left. Beyond that were the stables where horses were kept. In front of the main building was the "Bara Chakkar", the playing field where a game of hockey would be on every afternoon and the wall along the road filled with spectators. Right in front of "Ghanta Pahra" a few chairs were laid on for senior members of the family, including Nawab Habibullah to watch the games. The "Ghanta Pahra" used to be manned by at least one Durwan 24 hours a day and the oerson on duty would sound the gong (Ghanti) every hour on the hour. This could be heard far enough - including the "Gol" talab - for the inmates to check the time. As you walked past the main entrance of the building and turned right around the corner, on the left was the "Chota Chakkar" meant for youngsters. The steps down the rear of the building led to a massive garden with well kept lawns where garden parties, wedding receptions etc. were held and how we use to look forward to the lovely cakes, pastries and ice cream served by the famous "PINCHU'. As you went out of the eastern gate, next to it was "River View" the home of Mr. K. M. Ismail.
In those days the family used to enter four teams to play hockey in the Dacca Hockey League and various other tournaments. The senior most was the Bachelors , followed by Nawab XI, Atiqullah XI and one more, I forget the name.
The Bachelors had the distiction of reaching the semi-finals of the Beighton Cup (the Blue Riband of Indian hockey) in Calcutta, I think, in 1917. More as I remember, God willing. So much for today. May the Lord Almighty, with your prayers and blessings, grant me the opportunity of continuing to write regularly.
Khwaja Sayeed Shahabuddinn
Karachi, Pakistan
Saturday 7th October 2006
4 comments:
Confusion ! Confusion !
This isn't Khwaja Anas, son of Khwaja M. Aziz.
The writer is Khwaja Anas son of Khwaja Nasarullah.
Dear Saeed bhai-
It is great to see your writings! Please note that, eventhough you see 4/5 responses, it is not even 1% of the total viewers.Others like myself looks forward to read more from you and other elders!
Just to give you an example,
Last month alone, this site was visited 73000 times! There are several diehard readers, who visit the site on a daily basis to see any new post or updates.
Please continue to write about the past and other issues and please encorage others to participate as well.
With Best Regards,
Khwaja Arshad
New York
I cannot find suitable words to express my deep sense of gratitude to SHARMIN NOORUDDIN MALIK for being so kind and gracious with her words of praise for the DNF Newsletter. May God bless her and all members of her family, with health, every happiness and all that is best in this world and in the hereafter.
Khwaja Sayeed Shahbuddin
Karachi, Pakistan
Saturday 7th October 2006
Sayeed Bhai, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing in this forum enriching our site with your word of wisdom..
I came across the telephone line date installation in a book and just mentioned on the website. I did’nt know it will trigger nostalgia on your end and you will come up with such an amazing article. I remember my Nana S.K.Shamsul Hassan saying that the first call dialed from AM (Ahsan MAnzil) to Calcutta.
We grew up with the words mentioned here on your article -"Ghanta Para", "Bara Chakkar" , "Chota Chakkar", "Hauz", "Gol Talab". It reminds me of My father K.M.Aziz (played soccer as a goalkeeper in the Bara Chakkar). I was one of those fortunate ones to sit on the 'PAAR" and watch many games as a child. The “hauz” was full of orange fishes. I remember my Dada K.M. Mosharraf performing “wadhu” there with ornage glow from Maghrib’s sun on his face. I saw the “Astabal” but no horse .
The four teams from the family were
1.Nawab Union Club,
2 Bachelors Union,
3.Atikollah Eleven and
4.Dhaka Eleven.
The result in Beighton Cup :
1916 Bachelors reach the semifinal
1917 Bachelors lost to Calcutta Customs in final and became runners up.
http://www.bharatiyahockey.org/patjansen/beighton.htm
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