THE CAPTAIN COMMANDED ME, “FULL SPEED
AHEAD”. THIS IS MY TRUE STORY
By S. Nisamdeen
Published via Amazon. 220 pages. £12.95
ISBN 979 8 681 669 401
Not many people start their lives as Muslim in Sri-Lanka and eventually settle in a small Welsh town. Not many people travel 25,000 miles overland in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Not many people become helmsmen piloting large ships all over the world. Not many people start their lives born in to a Muslim family in a Buddhist community and become Christians. The author of this book, S. Nisamdeen, fits all these categories.
Nisam was born in Sri-Lanka, in a small Buddhist village to a fairly prosperous Muslim family who ran a local shop and also owned property. But when he came of age Nisam decided that there was no future for him in the village and decided to travel. On this first journey he travelled right across India, across several other countries and ended up in Frankfurt. He soon decided that he had made a mistake and returned home. But before long the travel bug bit again, and he left home never to return, except for holiday visits.