DUFFERIN EVENINGS -

DUFFERIN EVENINGS 

These are a few of my favourite things…….

Remember the evenings on Dufferin in evening uniform dress- the `soft shirt' and kummer band & tie and all ,  strolling on deck or leaning against the Taff- Rail chatting…
Quietly chatting at the taff rail  with a batch mate  and sharing a few laughs was a relaxation and a joy.
Today we will have to get a Cruise or Ferry ticket to do this--- Imagine!!

The evenings from 7 pm onwards was a nice time then of relax and await dinner...looking out yonder….with Radio Ceylon playing in the background on that antique radio set that kept us going.Great favourites on "Choice of the People" or Binaca Geetmala with Ameen Sayani and  his silken voice.Music possibly evokes the best in all  and the simple Radio set Dufferin had was a great Machine really. ps- The radio frequency bands all had many old favourites-. No noisy adverts like today and radio is soothing. (In fact it is nicer with age) .
It  has come a long way with us..and is a good friend.

Friend "Radio" has taken us from :
WESTERN POP--Elvis, Cliff Richards, the Beatles, Jim Reeves, Dean Martin , Nat King Cole,  Bobby Darrin, Connie Francis  and others.
HINDI FILMS : From Rafi-Lataji, Ashaji -Mukesh, Manna Dey, Talat Kishore Da--inc .

Then we had the harbour and ships lights- lights of ships anchored at a distance;  was also a great source of interest to may of us. Some had anchored and awaited scrapping and with just a kerosene lamp --light for identification.Gently and quietly rolling in the night with a skeleton crew of maybe 2-3 as just watchmen, they seemed to hold a strange fascination with many a tale to tell of its sailing days.

It was also a time when many of of us practiced  Morse code on the Morse Light--see photo- we used to exchange friendly signals with ships in port-Many would call us -As most on seagoing ships had an ex Dufferin background this was a well accepted practice--in fact a good practical test --

That was the quiet-time …and great moments whilst awaiting -fall in and Cooks Bugle Call --order by the OOD to  `sound off Cooks' to proceed to Dinner.
Hungry lads we were.
Great place that Mess Room.
Dufferin food was good and wholesome-fresh and we relished it-

Today Mess Rooms are deserted places on many ships -cold and really deserted.
Like Dining tables at home or in own cabins with people sitting in front of the TV / Video eating silently and their eyes glued to TVs.

Changing Times……still life goes on.
Rgds
TR