In between noting down in Braille about those who have checked in, 72-year-old Perviz Mirza excitedly demands that the walkie-talkie be handed over to her! Though she and her 70-year-old brother, Vispi, take turns to go online on alternate days, excitement welled up when she heard familiar voices on Friday night. They were on the "net", a ritual every active HAM follows every night.
It's the desire to hear people talk that made the two visually impaired siblings become HAMs. Visible during calamities, and these days frequently on city beaches during Ganpati Visarjan,
HAMs are a group of people glued to each other for the thrill of talking on radio and wireless communication devices and their improvised versions. Incidentally, the Mirzas are among the most talkative HAMs around.
"I first came to know of HAMs in 1968. Some of my visually impaired colleagues were already HAMs while I was studying in Boston College," said Vispi, who along with his sister are 20-year-old HAMs.
Vispi, who used to teach visually-impaired kids, remembers the days when his colleagues in US asked him to become a HAM.
Becoming a HAM was not easy, however. As they were visually impaired no one was willing to teach the siblings. "I went to the Nehru Science Centre too, but they were not willing," said Vispi. However, in late 1990s and early 2000 they met someone willing to teach them.
"The most difficult part was teaching them the circuit diagrams. A larger picture on butter paper had to be made with another paper below it in order to make them feel and understand it," said Sudhir Shah, their teacher.
Now they make it a point to be online from their "shack" as and when they can. "We log in at least once every day. Sometimes it's three times," said Perviz, who used to work in Union Bank. For talking to the "young, smart and intelligent" about the weather, clarity of voice and the devices in use are important.
For HAMs, conversations are mostly about technology. That is what the Mirzas enjoy the most too. Best of their conversations have been with friends like Cyril Alphonso, a Mazgaon resident.
"Presently, I am working on a transceiver. We like to talk about improvisation we make on the handsets," said Alphonso, 78-year-old former radio officer in Navy.
For Mirzas there have been some interactions that they still cherish. One such was with Commander Harkirat Singh who was in INS Vikrant. Another was with Ashish Saxena, a senior Navy personnel in Western Command. They came across these two when they tuned in on HAM.
"In fact, Saxena comes to visit us whenever he is here. The first time we met, he did not not understand that we were visually impaired," said Vispi, who did most of the talking about the friends made on HAM.
The Mirzas don't talk about politics. For them HAM is a hobby and they enjoy exchanging recipes and hobbies on air. "I talk to my sister in Valsad who too is a HAM. We exchange recipes, and I experiment," said Perviz.
HAM which is described as "the king of hobbies and not the hobby of kings" has many commoners and dignitaries as members. The essence of this licensed hobby is to provide voluntary help in times of emergencies when alternate means of communication is not around.
The Mirzas, unlike most active HAMs, cannot be physically present at disaster sites, but they make sure their hobby serves some useful purposes at times. "Once it so happened that one HAM, Dr Shenoy, a friend of ours, had to go out into a forest area where there was no mobile network. He left our home number with the hospital for contacting him in case of any emergency. He would tune in every hour and we would inform him if the hospital had left any message with us," said Vispi.
What is HAM radio?
HAM radios are wireless communication devices used as alternate means of communication, especially during emergencies or calamities. HAM requires licence and each HAM has his own identity which is coded with emphasis on phonetics.
HAMs primarily work on Morse Code. It's said to be an acronym of Hertz, Armstrong and Marconi, the scientists who are said to have developed the handset. Some however say it means 'Help All Mankind'.
Popular HAMs
Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Amitabh Bachchan, King Hussain of Jordan, a couple of UAE princes, Sultan Qaboos of Oman among others.
How to become a HAM?
One has to know English well. S/he has to appear for an exam. Before licence is granted, investigative agencies will conduct a background check. Aspiring HAMs are also given training.
Price of HAM radios
A HAM radio can cost from Rs 8,000 to Rs 75,000 depending on its reach. Some HAMs cover as much as half the world.
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