I was born in Sindh Province, which is in Pakistan now. My father brought me to Karachi, when I was three months old. Karachi is a seaport and our education was good because there were Art, Science, Law and Engineering colleges.

My father used to work in Quetta Baluchistan.

Unfortunately, my father and elder brother were killed in an earthquake in 1936 when 26,000 people lost their lives. As my mother was widowed she was unable to manage seven children without any income. Luckily the Earthquake Fund was raised and all seven children were given a free education.

As it was hard to get a job after passing my matriculation examination I decided to join an Engineering college. It was a three year course which I passed successfully and I had to go for further training in workshop practice.

I was lucky to get an improver fitters job at Karachi Port Trust workshop in Manora Island. I finished my two and a half years training and went to Bombay to look for a job on a cargo ship as a junior engineer.