Lost at sea: How an Indian-origin family is bringing SS Tilawa movement to light

Presentday Ballard Pier is a bustling south Mumbai hub home to hotels restaurants office and government buildings its lanes lined with street food thelas of all sortsmdashputting the finishing touches to a quintessential Bambaiya image The Pier of yore was as bustling a crucial part of the cityrsquos rich maritime history But sadly this is also the location of a forgotten story that has left no visible tracesIt was at this pier that a British steamer carrying more than 650 exhausted passengers dropped anchor over 80 years ago Some of these passengers sustained injuries but all of them were just grateful to be aliveThey were the survivors of SS Tilawamdasha passenger cargo steamer that set sail for South Africa from Ballard Pier on November 20 1942 and was hit by torpedoes from a Japanese submarine a mere three days later A total of 732 passengers and crew were on board when the tragedy struck 280 of them lost their lives The survivors were rescued by HMS Birmingham and brought safely back to the PierKash Kumar Solanki Emile Solanki Anita Yewale and Srikant KesnurldquoThe sad thingrdquo says retired Admiral IC Rao Indian Navy ldquois that there are no records of this incident with the Indian establishment right now This is because those were the days of the Second World War and all news was heavily censored Whatever we know about the Tilawa is only thanks to civiliandriven research conducted over the last two yearsrdquoAdmiral Rao currently heads the Mumbai Maritime Museum Society MMMS a nonprofit organisation that brings lost stories of Indiarsquos maritime history to light In 2021 Kash Kumar and his son Emile Solanki Indianorigin Canadian citizens approached the MMMS and this led to a collaboration Kash Kumarrsquos father Nachchhibhai Chibabhai was one of the passengers on board who lost their lives in the tragedy Fuelled by nothing other than a stubborn resolve to bring the forgotten story to light the Solankis scoured through existing recordsmdashincluding a passenger list sourced from the Indian Transvaal Congress and the official documented history of the HMS Birminghammdashand began tracking down the survivorsrsquo descendantsOn November 23 2022 the Solankis and the MMMS held a commemorative event at Ballard Estatersquos Grand Hotel In attendance was Arvindbhai Janimdashthen a threeyearold aboard SS Tilawa accompanying his mother All he remembers is his mother swaddling him in the pallu of her saree and jumping onto a lifeboatThe SS Birmingham which rescued the over 650 survivors of the tragedy brought them back to Ballard Pier in Mumbai a week after the Tilawa set sailThe Solankis also tracked down 90yearold Tejprakash Kaur who survived the Japanese attack with her father but lost her mother and three brothers A video of Kaur recounting her memories was played at the eventldquoIn Indiardquo says Commodore Srikant Kesnur ldquothere is unfortunately little awareness of tragedies that happened at sea Despite many Indians being involved in such tragedies we are not sufficiently tuned to remembering or commemorating incidents at sea or learning lessons from them As a nation in some ways it shows our sea blindness The circumstances surrounding the firing of torpedoes for example still remain a mystery The Titanic tragedy has been made into a blockbuster movie but there are hardly any such endeavours in IndiardquoAdmiral Rao concurs saying that such tragedies are connected to Indiarsquos relationship with other countries ldquoAt one pointrdquo he says ldquothere was a massive presence of the Baniya community in East Africa They ran the entire grocery and small trade business So much so that when African majoritarianism rose the Indians found themselves under attack and started fleeing to England They sought British passports from the government on the grounds that they had been serving the UK in its colonies for decades This marked the migration of Indians to the UK the origins of the now thriving diaspora community They took up jobs that required them to work long hours which no natives wanted to takerdquoMost of the Tilawarsquos history has been pieced together using archival documents and pictures such as this one of a lifeboat rescuing the victims of the tragedyToday the lsquoSS Tilawa movementrsquo is slowly gathering steam In December 2022 UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak issued an official letter acknowledging the tragedy and commending the efforts being taken to retell its story ldquoIt is important that citizens of the UK connected to the illfated SS Tilawa have the support of its Government especially from a Prime Minister of Indian descent We are facing challenges with access to archival material having UK maritime museums dedicate an area to SS Tilawa HMS Birmingham and SS Carthage Also getting a response from the Japanese government for their assistance Therefore receiving this letter from 10 Downing Street provides some hoperdquo Emile had said in a statement issued shortly after receiving Sunakrsquos letterFor Emile who owns a travel agency and his father a broadcaster the journey has been an emotional one ldquoWe never expected that so many families from around the world would respond reach out share their family connections and express continuous gratitude for the work done so far in bringing the forgotten tragedy to the worldrdquo Emile tells midday over email ldquoThe transition from a personal family project to a global initiative has been special and historic It has been tiring at times and emotionally exhausting Many late nights countless hours and personal funds have been committed to this endeavour I am now convinced it was well worth it The comfort encouragement and closure expressed by families is heartwarmingrdquoThe intrigue around the Tilawa has further intensified by its cargomdash2364 bars of silver intended for the production of coinage in South Africa In 2017 a British exploration firm found the wreck of the Tilawa deep in the sea and salvaged the bullion It is now locked in a legal battle between the firm and the Republic ofSouth AfricaThe MMMS meanwhile is keen on bringing to light many more such stories ldquoHundreds of commercial ships were sunk during the Second World Warrdquo says Vice President Anita Yewale ldquoWe are not sure how many vessels have been traced Whatever we know about the Tilawa is thanks to the efforts of one family but even there we are facing some challenges For example we know that a Mumbaibased studio could be holding a large port related footage and photographs but they are unwilling to cooperate as the studio is winding up its business and hence has opted to put up their entire archival collection forsale insteadrdquoYewale mentions another ship the SS Vaitarna which was also lost at sea and is not widely discussed It was seized by tragedy way before the Tilawa in 1942 or even the Titanic in 1912 It set sail in November 1888 for Porbandar but was unable to dock at its final destination owing to foul weather and came to Bombay instead It is believed to have been hit by a cyclonic storm leaving no survivors The ship reportedly had over 700 passengers on board There are also theories about wedding parties and students set to appear for their matriculation exams in Bombay being on board But they remain theories in the absence of adequate historical recordsAdmiral Rao chips in with another story that is very significant to presentday Mumbai and yet surprisingly little knownmdashthe SS Ramdas ldquoThe Ramdas was a passenger ship that operated between Bombay and Alibaug Road connectivity in those days was very poor and one had to take a very long and badly maintained route as a result of which most people preferred the ferry On July 17 1947 the Ramdas set sail from the ferry wharf at Bhaucha Dhakka and sank due to overcrowding while on its way to Alibaug It led to improved road connectivitymdashthe same roads used by public and private transport vehicles todayrdquo he tells usWhy then do we know so little about our own maritime historyCaptain Kapildev Bahl Merchant Navy says this is sad but hardly surprisingldquoWe have a rich maritime history and wonderful traditions The Chola empire had a thriving maritime economy Thereafter unfortunately our focus shifted to invasions from the North and we became increasingly seablind when it comes to safeguarding our coasts Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an exception because he realised the significance of a strong navy The Portuguese followed by the British had every reason to suppress our maritime history After that it was simply too laterdquo he saysThe Solankis meanwhile soldier on They held a second commemorative event at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich UK and are planning a third in Durban this year ldquoWe need to consider the possibility of getting further support from the Greenwich UK National Maritime Museum track the results from the silver bullion salvage case and the possibility of accessing files footage photographs of the SS Tilawa wreck site and perhaps secure a silver bar donated to the museum We hope Durban November 2024 will be a successful commemoration It is the port the SS Tilawa was destined for and it is fitting that we hold the third commemoration theremdashfor the countless African families who have come forwardrdquo says Emile