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Grand Father - late Capt. Fakir Mohamed Juvale was the pioneer of Indian Shipping. He was the first Indian Master (Captain) during the British rule in India. He had also opened the first Nautical School in India in 1923 during the British Raj to train Indian seafarers, particularly from the neglected and backward Kokan region. He was also instrumental in opening the Port of Bhavnagar in the western Indian state of Gujarat, where he served as Senior Pilot and Port Officer. He was honoured with the Padma Shri Award in 1981 and also received several other awards and felicitations from various organisations in appreciation of his yeomen services to Indian Shipping for over 55 years. The state owned Shipping Corporation of India also honoured him by naming one of their Off-Shore vessels after him. He also had a flair for poetry in Urdu, Hindi and Marathi, and his poems were published in several local dailies and magagines. He was also interviewed a few times on Bombay T.V. His biography was published in Marathi in 1960's and the record of his achievements has been kept in the Naval Mueseum, in Bombay Harbour.He passed away in 1987 at the age of 98 years.
Father - late Capt. Kamruddin Juvale also served at sea in a distinguished career spaning over 30 years. He too contributed a lot of time and energy in the upliftment of the youth of the Kokan region by helping them embark on a sea career. He was also instrumental in fighting and negotiating for the rights and welfare of his crew. He was also passion for photography and Indian Music and had several high level contacts within the Indian Film Industry, which helped him organise several cultural charity programmes for quite a few worthy causes, and also the annual function of the Nautical & Engineering College at Bombay. He himself used to sing on stage, his voice resembling Talat Mehmood (who incidently happened to be his good friend), and has sung duets on stage with noted singers like Sudha Malhotra, Mubarak Begum and Meena Patki. He also had a few L.P. Gramaphone discs (78 rpm) to his credit in the 60's. He also had a very close association with music directors Naushad, S.D. Burman, Ravi and poet Kavi Pradeep,Ali Sardar Jafri, and Akhtar ul Amman, apart from Mohamed Rafi, Meena Kumari, on 18th January 2006.
Self - Capt. Zainul Abidin Juvale. Also a Master Mariner, serving at sea for over 35 years. In the news when the ship under my command was captured by the Iraqi forces when they invaded Kuwait in 1990. Myself and my crew of 26 were held at gunpoint and remained captives for 35 days. Through sheer determination and persuation managed to get my ship and crew released from the Iraqi forces as well as rescued about 750 Indian expatriates from Kuwait on board my General Cargo ship, (which was not designed to carry passengers), through the mined waters from Kuwait to Dubai.
This incident made headline news the world over and I was interviewed by many international T.V. and News media. The most touching and proud moment being the "Welcome Reception" accorded to my ship by the Dubai & Western Naval forces by playing the Naval Band and dipping thier Ensign when my ship entered the port of Dubai. Perhaps the first time in Maritime History when a Naval ships dipped their Ensigns to a Merchant Ship.
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